The Amnesia Genius
by CookieMonstersRUs
Summary: "Experimenting on himself, that's risky," Josephine watched Lazarus enter the chamber. "You're one to talk," Will scoffed. Jo rolled her eyes. "Eh, I was to die anyway. Might as well do it at my own hands." "You were completely suicidal," he whispered. Jo kept running into the Doctor. Who is she? No clue, but, maybe along their journey they might just find out. "Still am."
1. The Prologue

**The Prologue:**

The constant beeping of heart monitors filtered throughout the small white, sterile room. A form slumbered underneath the many scratchy and thick blankets, white as well, snoring softly with each breath. In and out, in and out, in and out, a constant cycle for the young girl.

Her strange eyes opened, drowsy with sleep, saddened with loss; she didn't know who she was. Each day, those sleepy eyes became startled and her heart would pound, the monitors getting louder and louder, but she couldn't stop. The beeps frightened her, any loud noise frightened her. But each day, no one come. No one would turn off the monitors or say hello or even check up on her.

She knew someone came though, the evidence was on her arms. Red wires, blue wires, green wires, more wires injected themselves into her skin each day, unknown fluids cycling in and out. This kept her from leaving her bed. More cuts and bruises splattered and blossomed on her flesh, each a mystery on _who_ did this, _why _did they do this, and _how_ are they doing this. She grimaced, scratching at everything.

Her fingers trailed up to touch her bald head; she wondered her hair looked like. She wondered what she looked like. She sobbed; she didn't know. She didn't know anything about herself, nothing, blank, everything was blank. Tears turned to anger and anger turned into shaking and clawing and ripping and tearing and scowling and crying and roaring and-

She passed out.

-/JEL/-

The Doctor stood next to his companion, staring down at the isolated building. Rose herself was confused. After deciding to go on a random trip, they ended up in the desert around 2009 in front of an isolated white building. Rose looked at the leather wearing Doctor.

"What?"

"What in bloody hell are we doing here?" she asked, her British accent bleeding through.

"I don't know but the TARDIS seems to like it here."

"Why would she like the hot, empty desert in June!"

"Oi! Stop shoutin', let's just go check it out then we can leave."

"Fine," she sighed as she headed for the door. The Doctor opened it for her and they entered the white halls. The building had maybe two levels, with no windows to illuminate the halls. The lights flickered like those in horror films, making Rose instantly move closer to the Doctor. He didn't resist his friend, himself being a bit startled when he heard the clicks, ticks, and hums of machines that made a rhythm that sent a shiver down to his spine. _Triple, four, triple, four, triple, four._ Each machine he could her repeated this song, fusing the different noises together.

"Doctor," Rose whispered, "What's that noise?"

"Let's find out," he mumbled as they ventured further and further down the eerie halls. Another hum in the silence made them stop in their tracks. A woman with a face that shouldn't be in this time, walked down the halls into the only room. She had a feline's face that should have been in New New York. One of the Sisters of Plenitude, he realized by the Cat Person's nun-like clothing. The Doctor was startled at this Cat Person in the wrong time period-or maybe he and Rose got the _time_ estimate wrong, but that doesn't happen often.

The feline had just opened the room when the noises become louder, flooding into the quiet space. "Doctor, that woman has a cat's face." He gave her a look and Rose immediately shut up. "Don't need to be so touchy," she muttered; his eyes rolled. They continued to creep closer and closer to the opened door, hoping to get a peek inside, but just as they were about to enter, the Cat Person exited the room and caught them. She wasn't surprised and not at all happy at finding them, the frown clear on her face.

"My office. Now!" she hissed at the two, making them jump. She didn't take no for an answer as she grabbed their hands and pulled them up the stairs, past the various rooms of labs, and into a small office. Ignoring their protest, she pushed them down into the chairs and sat in her own across the desk. "How the MROER did you find me?" she yelled.

"You aren't supposed to be here in this time, who are you and what are you hiding?" the Doctor demanded, standing up from his chair and pointing a finger at the cat woman.

"Doctor." Rose pulled him back into the chair after seeing the glare the cat lady had for the Time Lord. Reluctantly, he sat back in his chair and gave the cat a look that said, 'I want answers now.'

"You are early Doctor," the cat woman started, "I wasn't even supposed to contact you for at least another few hours and not even in this form-"

"What form?" Rose whispered to the Doctor. He paled at the thought.

"-and because of that I ask for you to leave. You aren't supposed to receive your package until it is completely secure and safe. Also, the one who assigned me this job wished for themselves to be unknown for the time being, so don't bother asking. I will contact you when you are ready to receive this. I'd also like to inform you that I myself don't like this arrangement."

"Why? How did you get to this time?"

"I was transported across time to get here and I will return when the time comes. I don't like this arrangement is because I don't like taking care of someone with amnesia, much less one with…..let's say _unique_ qualities."

"You have a _person _down there! Are they you're prisoner? What are you doing to them?"

"Fixing them," she replied curtly.

"_Fixing them_? What's wrong?" the Doctor demanded as he stood up. If this cat was doing something bad to another organism, he would send her back to her time in handcuffs.

"I cannot explain that or go any further on the subject, I've already said too much."

"Let us see it."

"No." She got up from her chair and left the room. The Doctor and Rose followed her out.

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"Time paradoxes, burning holes in the time vortex. Do you want that? I don't. So no. N. O. If she-"

"Oh it's a she!"

"-even sees you in this form now, her whole brain will deteriorate. It will _burn apart_. Do you want someone innocent to have their brain destroyed by just one glance?"

"Do I know her?"

"No, and she won't ever know you. I have strict instructions to make sure she never knows you now. Wait until the next form and come back, but she is unstable for you to meet her now."

"Can we at least see her through a camera? You surely must have security in there to monitor her being your patient and all. What about seeing her while she sleeps? She wouldn't be able to see us then," Rose pressed.

"Even close proximity of him could kill her in a second…..but I do have a camera in there," she stopped, sighing, "Fine, five minutes and then you must leave. ONLY five minutes." The two strangers nodded in agreement with the doctor and soon they were being led to another room. It was small, smaller than her office but it had many screens lining the walls and majority of them were posed in the one room.

It really _was _a girl that lay on the bed. Many tubes and wirings connected to her body as she slept. Rose zoomed in to get a closer look at the girl. Her hair was completely shaven off, but you could tell she was female by the heart shape face and lips. And then there was the obvious of her chest-which although not extreme, was there, slightly-not that the Doctor was looking or anything. "What's wrong with her though?" Rose asked the doctor.

"Listen," she replied, turning on the audio as the girl thrashed in her sleep. Moans erupted from her mouth as she clawed at her body and the bed underneath her. Moans soon turned into screams of agony, reminding the listeners of nails on chalkboards. Then the words began to leak out of her mouth.

"Stop! Stop! Don't-don't do this! Please! I-I can't hold on!" wails erupted from her mouth and the woman clutched at her chest in agony. "SSSSSSSTTTTTTOOOOOOOoooPPPPPPppppPPP! DON'T LET GO! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE! DON'T DO THIS TO ME, YOU SAID-YoU SaiD-you said..."

"Oh no, it hasn't been like this since the first night, excuse me," the cat muttered as she left the room to go to her patient. Just as she left, the girl began to shake, tears flowing down her face, clawing at her scalp.

"What do you…what do you think happened to her?" Rose's voice was small as she watched blood show out of her claw marks, like it was the only relief she could find.

"I don't know Rose...I don't know," he sat down in the chair to study the girl. Something about her…something was…

And then the girl did something unexpected. Her wails, screams, shouts, any of her sounds turned into one heart wrenching noise as she called desperately, "DOCTOR! DOCTOR! SAVE ME DOCTOR! YOU SAID-YOU SAID YOU WOULD SAVE ME DOCTOR!" Rose and the Doctor both froze at the phrase. The Doctor tried to zoom in on the girl to see if he knew her.

Her shaking got worse and worse as her body flinched and her back arched. The feline entered the room, syringe in hand, to put in a sedative to calm her down. But after it was injected, the girl opened her eyes in shock, clawing at her surroundings, trying to escape. The doctor tried to restrain the girl by pushing her shoulders down, but she was clearly awake and struggled, screaming, "He's here! He's here! The dark is here! He touched me! Kill him! You promised you would save me Doctor! You are the Doctor, why won't you save me Doctor!"

Shivering, he heard the girl's words mull in his head. But what really worried him was that she was looking directly into the camera, directly at him. "Rose," the Doctor asked, quietly.

"Yes?" she sounded worried; the Doctor himself was worried, startled.

"We're going," he told her and she nodded as they left the room, building, and time period, leaving behind a hysterical girl and a misplaced cat woman.


	2. Who Am I?

**Chapter One: Who Am I?**

The girl woke up to more tubes, wires, and bandages on her body. She always wondered when this happened, probably sometime in the night. She stared at the ceiling for the millionth time already, but she didn't know that. Her pupils were as usual blown wide but she never realized, mostly because she couldn't see her own eyes, much less her face. She wondered what she looked like and who she was. Who was doing this, along with her usual questions of how she ended up here and why, filtered through her mind as well.

Her body was slowly shutting down and she knew it. Her strength was deteriorating and was never given enough food. Luckily, there was always water for her to drink while she was awake during those random passages of time. Her arms shook as she reached for the glass, bringing it to her chapped lips. Taking only small sips, she returned the water to the table and started her climax of the day: trying to sit up.

It was a struggle.

It was a completely cruel struggle to see her trying to will her body in a sitting position. All of her focus narrowed on getting her weak, sore, and delicate bones to move. She couldn't do anything else. All she had to do was sitting up and going back to sleep every day, sometimes, to get water. Thankfully, she was able to sit up, but she panted in the end. Her blurry eyes wavered as they looked down at her slender fingers. The consequences for staying here for days cost her fingers the ability of twitching and wiggling-_movement_.

She didn't notice the new aspect of her stay until she looked up at the blank wall. In the corner of her eye, though, she saw him. He watched her with calculative eyes that mirrored her own. He was tall; she could tell even with him sitting down, and wore a dark blue suit with glasses and a red tie. His brown hair was ruffled and strange to her eyes, but she didn't know why. His eyes were also brown. They stared at her like she was anomaly.

Looking down at her arms, she inspected the number of things in them: three wires on both sides of her arms, two tubes on her left arm, four on her right, one finger had another wire connected, and three different wrappings covered each of her arms. Shakily, the girl unveiled her legs from under the blanket. Two wrapping covered her upper thighs and a long bandage on one of her calves. Nothing new ever happened to her legs. Slowly she touched her neck and then moved to her scalp. One bandage covered half of her neck and there was a wrapping across her forehead, covering part of her scalp.

She would have checked her chest and torso too, but she could feel the bandages there specifically so there was no need to pull up her gown in front of a stranger. She turned her body slowly to the counter next to the bed and grabbed for the water again as fast as she could with her trembling arms. Instead of grabbing it, the glass shattered to the floor with a loud noise, but neither of them flinched as a response. She tried to lean over to grab on of the shards, but the wires and tubes and her pain filled bandages kept her from being able to move too far. Her fingers barely touched one of the shards, much less picked one up.

It was long and jagged and upon touching it, she sliced her thin skin. But she didn't feel the pain for she was numb in her fingertips and instead stared in wonder as the blood dripped slowly little by little down the digit. Bringing the blade up to one of the wires, she hacked and sawed them off her arms before moving to the other making the machines turn off. "What are you going to do now?" the man asked, a British accent clear in his voice, after she finished cutting the wires.

She opened her mouth for the first time in a long time and said in a raspy voice, "What do you think I should do?"

"Ask for my help?"

"No thank you."

"Why not? I could easily disconnect the tubes and help you out of that bed and we could get out of here. It would be harder for you to disable everything with your poor health, that doctor of yours is not as good as she says she is."

"Yes, well, I should really fire her. But again, no thank you." the girl chuckled.

"Again, why not?"

"I do not know you and I'm unwilling to have a strange man help me out when I have no idea why they are here."

"I don't know why I'm here either," he replied as he shifted in his seat, revealing his red converse shoes. He took off his glasses and leaned forward.

"So why come?" she asked, quietly.

"Who are you?"

"I don't know, who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he introduced. She immediately flinched at the word. Her body shook and not from weakness. She was receiving bad vibes from that name, but the person in front of her didn't make her feel the way the name did. She turned to stare at him with cautiously curious eyes. He stared back. His eyes widened when he took notice of her extremely large pupils. He flashed a light in them, making her flinch, but her pupils only shrank a bit.

The Doctor stood up from the chair and moved closer to the bed. She wanted to move away from him, but her body couldn't function the way she wanted it to. Her eyes followed him as he tilted her head back to look closer at her eyes. "That…should not be possible."

"What should not be possible?" she asked, alarmed that there was someone so close to her.

"Well your eyes are purple, well more violet like, but they should not be purple. Purple isn't even one of the colors for a human to-" he quickly fished out some kind of device and pointed it at her face, directly into the eyes, causing some sort of noise to ring out. He stared back down at the base. "Hmm, well you're perfectly human, I still don't understand how you have such an eye color. We should probably get you out of those tubes. Dancing around the situation is pointless anyway," he talked as he began to remove the tubes gently. She stood perfectly still as he removed them, trying to feel as little pain as possible.

"How did you come across me?" the girl asked.

"How did you end up here?" he countered.

"I don't know. I believe I have a condition called amnesia. I wouldn't know my name or where I came from, much less the people I knew. Do we know each other?"

"I don't think so. What should I call you then?"

"That makes it sound like I'm your pet."

"Maybe you are," he joked, but she didn't laugh or smile. She stared at him, then the wall behind him, and then her hands. "I was joking. I didn't really mean-"

"Josephine."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Josephine, Josephine Lewis."

"Nice to meet you Josephine Lewis, I'm the Doctor," he held out a hand after removing all the tubes. She flinched again at the name, but she shakily grabbed his hand. The girl then looked back up at him as they shook slightly.

Then she punched him.

The Doctor fell instantly to the floor at the impact to his nose. Josephine felt extremely tired after punching the man, but she needed to escape. She didn't know or trust or have any knowledge of her past to know whether or not to accept anything from him. So she quickly scrambled to her feet and off of the bed. Her bare feet touched the solid, cold tiled floor for the first time. One foot, and then the other touched the smooth surface. Her head felt a rush as she moved quickly in the new position for the first time in what felt like years. She felt _alive_ as she left that bed after punching that man. But as quickly as she stood up, she fell to the ground.

Thankfully the Doctor caught her before her head hit the ground. She went out like a dying star.

-/JEL/-

Josephine's eyes opened and found the lighting burn. It hadn't been like that since she first woke up in that hospital bed. Flinching, she remembered what happened, realizing she was not in the same bed as before. It was softer and the sheets were of different texture than before. Her pillow was more plush and comfortable to her head. The walls weren't pale white, but a creamy yellow. The lighting was much softer and less bright, making her eyes hurt at the non-intensity. _Odd_. There was only one noise in the entire room and it was the slight hum of an unknown machine, vibrating everything slightly. Slowing getting up, she felt less weak than she usually did and could see her skin not clinging to her bones like before. And as she stood up, she could balance on her feet and move forward (even if they were baby penguin steps).

Slowly, but eventually, Josephine reached the door knob to the outside. Except, as soon as she touched said door knob it opened. Stumbling back, Josephine almost fell back onto the ground until two hands grabbed her sides, preventing her from hitting another solid floor. "Josephine!" the Doctor exclaimed. Her eyes jerked up to him. He was staring down at her and it freaked her out how close they were to each other.

"Umm…sorry about the nose." He nodded before picking her up completely and placing her against one of the walls so she could lean against something.

"No problem, I'm fine. I'm sure you'll want to leave this room as soon as possible. Being in here for eight days can be-"

"Eight days?"

"Yes, amazing really, like you were in a coma, but you weren't because…well you still did that thing."

"Thing?"

"You know, that thing you do when you're asleep."

"Breathe? Snore?"

"No, you don't snore in your sleep. You…well you…" he was stalling.

"Spit it out!" she shouted at the rambling man.

"Scream! And shout, along with, along with the wailing...and crying." She stared at him with confusion.

"What?"

"You must know that you do that at night! Don't you have nightmares or something?"

"No. I don't even know what you're talking about." He was about to respond, but she decided that it was time to leave the crazy man behind. She opened the door and stumbled into a strange hallway. The lights couldn't be located and the walls themselves were…coral like. That was the closest she got to explaining the pattern, shade, and texture of the walls she leaned against for support, trying to leave the Doctor behind. Except, he kept following her, watching the still weak girl walk away from him. No one _ever_ walked away from the Doctor; people were generally following him for attention and answers. No, this girl seemed to rather ignore the facts to keep herself oblivious.

"Oi! I'm talking to you!" he shouted down the hall that she had somehow already crossed. She paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath before returning her advancement down the hall. "You broke my nose, now can you-"

"I already apologized for that!" she called back. "I need to get home."

"And where is that exactly? Do you have amnesia or not?" That comment made her stop. He let out a sigh before jogging up to the resting girl.

"I just…know where I should be going," she told him, looking away from his eyes.

"And that is?"

"Washington D.C."

"Anywhere more specific?" he inquired.

"Near the Washington Monument," Josephine suggested and the Doctor nodded, grabbing her arm and pulling her through a door to the main room. She wanted to protest but decided against it considering he was giving her a lift to…well she wasn't really sure where yet.

Inside the main room, there was a giant machine in the center. The Doctor was next to what she assumed to be the control system, beginning to flip a series of switches, levers, and buttons until another noise echoed through the room. It was rhythmic and calming to the girl as she held onto one of the railings in a tight white grip. The room itself began to shake, she realized that the place was some form of ship or teleportation device. She wasn't surprised though at the movements of the ship or the noises or even the Doctor mumbling nonsense to himself-which made him look up and at her in confusion. "Why aren't you asking questions?" he snapped.

"What's her name?"

"Her? How would you know it's a her?"

"The way you're cooing at her. It suggests that it's female, unless you're gay, but you'd still have more affection towards a female machine. So what's her name?"

"She's the TARDIS and I'm not homosexual," he grumbled; she nodded.

"But you are sassy," she noticed.

"I am not-" the girl nodded towards his stance, his hand-on-hip pose that was _so_ definitely sassy. Soon the Doctor was glaring at her and returned to the controls to distract himself. "What year?"

"I'm thinking…2007. Yes, 2007 near an apartment building with apple trees in the front of it and a café nearby."

"So the amnesia's clearing up, what's your name?"

"I still think its Josephine Lewis, although I'm not entirely sure."

"Age?"

"Based on my appearance, I'd say between twenty and twenty-one, I believe you can deduct these things yourself."

"Okay, harder questions then. Twenty-two thousand three hundred eleven times sixteen?"

"Thirty-five hundred six thousand nine hundred seventy six."

"Left or right handed?"

"Left handed judging by the paralysis of the right hand would keep me from writing."

"Parents' names?"

"I…don't know."

"So close!" he shouted in disappointment. Josephine stared at the man in front of her.

"I apologize if I can't answer personal things due to my amnesia."

"Okay, how did you guess your name?"

"One day I woke up to paper and pen on the table and I signed my name. Analyzing the name and handwriting, I decoded it to Josephine Lewis."

"So you don't really know who you are…at all?"

"I have as much knowledge of my identity as you do," she agreed. "Now may I leave this transportation device and try to find myself?"

The Doctor didn't say anything. He just watched the bald girl in the hospital gown walk across the room to the doors. They opened for her in an instant. She was just about to leave when she paused at the door, "Will I be running into you again sir?"

"Probably not Josephine Lewis."

"Good," she replied. And then she walked out of the entrance into the bustling city. The door shut softly behind her and the girl only sighed when she turned around to find that it was just a small blue box. "Interesting…there must be a separate dimension in there entirely." She backed away from it and onto the sidewalk. Then a noise rang out, one just like the earlier noise, and the box disappeared in front of her. No one noticed the noise of the box as it disappeared or the girl without any hair wearing a hospital gown nowhere near a hospital.

She turned around and looked up at the building in front of her. It was large, decent, and appeared comfortable. Her legs were moving better now but she couldn't take strides or exert herself too much. Slow was the word to describe her entrance into the building. Her eyes wandered the somewhat familiar building, her legs leading her up the stairs and across the halls to door 5C. Her mind was still questioning the building when her hand pulled out a key from above the doorway.

Surprisingly, the room inside seemed extremely familiar to her. Unsurprisingly, her legs began to give out from the climb of steps. She quickly flopped down on one of the two dark red couches. The apartment was large with five rooms: a kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms, and the living room that she sat in now. Each room was quite spacious and all but the bathroom had hardwood, polished floors.

Light streamed through the long windows, the ones with white curtains framing the panes. The walls were a calming cream and the carpet was a black and striped red. Paintings were stacked against one another against one of the walls. There was an assortment of biographies and science books on the coffee table with a TIME magazine about the ex-Prime Minister of England. Josephine picked up the magazine and stared at the man on the front. William Curtis looked familiar to the amnesiac girl but that could be because he's the ex-Prime Minister, but the man…

There was a knock on the door.

Josephine shot up from her chair, which she regretted immediately from the dizziness it caused, looking at the door with wide eyes. This could always not be her home. But if it wasn't her home and the person outside lived here, then why didn't they have their key? She cautiously approached the door, stopping short as she debated whether or not to answer it. There was another knock, a more urgent sounding one and Josephine decided she might as well open it. She grabbed the knob and turned.

Standing in front of her was a very, very handsome man. His hair was short and black and his eyes were a heart melting brown. If he smiled, almost every female and male in the population would faint and swoon. _Almost._ He wore a long coat that a captain of a boat would wear. Josephine looked at this man in confusion but she could sense slight familiarity. "Jo!" he said happily before grabbing her face and pulling her in for a kiss on the lips. She stared at him in shock and backed away from him when he let go of her. "Jo?"

"I ask for you to leave my apartment immediately," in a calm voice she spoke.

"Jo, it's me, Jack. You act like you don't know me," the man told her.

"Sir, I don't know you so I please ask you to exit from this building." He stared at her and she stared back at him. They were both confused, but Jack's confusion ended quicker when he began to mumble,

"No…NO...No, no, no, no!" he backed her into the apartment and reached for her face again. She tried to free herself from his grasp but she was really weak. He stared deeply into her eyes, searching for something unknown to her. "Jo, what do you remember?"

"Remember? I don't know who you are, much less who I am!" she hissed. His shoulders dropped instantly.

"Oh god, you have…"

"Amnesia, yes, I know. Do I know you? Based on your greeting, are we in some sort of relationship? Marriage, boyfriend and girlfriend, what was that term people use nowadays…oh yes, friends with benefits?" she pondered. He had let go of her face by then. Jack stared at her before letting a small smile appear on his face.

"That's my Jo, always analyzing me. Never could fully understand me but you…you always were spot on, except for right now."

"How so?"

"Well we aren't dating or married or having sex if you were wondering. The Prime Minister would have my head fifteen times if he ever found out."

"Prime Minister? What's she got to do with this? Oh my god…am I dating the Prime Minister now? Oh god! I'm half her age! She's a woman! I…" the girl stuttered, "I'm not attracted to women!"

Jack chuckled. She had never shown so much…emotion. She was always calculating, thinking, staring at the specimen in front of her. He hadn't even seen Jo show confusion since she first saw him die and come back. And the closest thing to happiness with her was her uncle making a goof out of himself.

"Jack, do you know who I am? Do we know each other? Please say yes. Oh lord. First I wake up one morning to some madman with a blue teleportation box calling himself the Doctor and then I'm-"

"Wait! You met the Doctor?"

"Yeah, do you know him? Is he important?"

"You really don't know who you are do you, Jo?"

"I don't know, do you?"

"Some of it."


	3. Seeing Him Again

**Chapter Two: Seeing Him Again**

It had been a year. A year and her hair was finally returning. She was in a hospital, one of the best hospitals-in Britain of course. She moved across the pond months before. Sitting in one of the lobby chairs, a woman across her was praying, mumbling over and over a name of a boy. Jo would have felt bad for the woman after deducing she was praying for her son, but Jo knew the kid's chances were low. She herself was a rare chance, but no one else had done what she'd done.

"Psst," someone said next to her. Looking over, Josephine found a young woman staring at her with blonde hair and green eyes. She was skinny, probably from the fatigue. "Are you that girl?"

"Which one?"

"You know, the Prime Minister's niece, the one who had cancer and experimented on herself?"

"Uh, yes, that's, um, me, you are correct Miss…"

"Stewart, Lisa Stewart. Dear god, I'm talking to the Prime Minister's niece."

"_Ex-_Prime Minister's _adoptive _niece," she clarified.

"I read your books. It really made me rethink the way I should handle my diagnosis. How did you ever come up with such an insane idea?" Lisa asked.

"I study some 'out of this world' technology. Using some of their blueprints, I just meshed certain ideas with others to get that device."

"What?—actually, that's really interesting. Why don't they have that procedure for other patients?"

"Well it caused some damage to my nerves, increasing the paralysis in my hand. Some inspectors also concluded that the pain would be too severe for the patient and too dangerous to test widely," Jo explained as simply as possible.

"Did ya not feel it when you were using the procedure? Or was the pain too immense for you to re-describe it in your books?"

"I didn't know what the pain felt like, still don't know what it felt like."

"Whadya mean?"

"You read the newspapers from last year, correct?" The girl nodded. "Then you must know that I had amnesia."

"But you wrote those books before ya disappeared, which me and me mum still want to know about."

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about it. But as for the emotions bit, I was told by one of my friends that before, I wasn't very good with emotions. I still don't have a full grasp on them."

The girl nodded. "So are you here today to get checked out?"

"Ummm, well, I am scheduled for an examination but I actually came this time to get my file."

"What for?"

"Need to look at something, it's personal."

"Well good luck to ya."

"Thank you, I'll see you around one day."

"Are you just trying to make the situation better?" the girl asked. Josephine closed her eyes. She knew she couldn't lie, it just wasn't in her.

"The odds are slim, do you really want me to answer that question?" The girl looked down, understanding. Jo didn't know what to do, so she awkwardly patted the girl's shoulder before staring at the white walls. Staring at the walls reminded Jo of her time in that hospital bed. Then it reminded her of the Doctor who she still flinched at the title. She never did understand how she ended up in that place. The cancer free woman had spent months pondering and trying to figure out what had happened the night of her twentieth birthday. But some secrets were best left alone. She realized this after recording her sleeping patterns one night.

The next morning she had listen to screams, wails, pleas of mercy, and shouts for help. That tape laid on her desk at home with dust collecting on it. Who needed a tape when she had perfect memory?-except for the whole amnesia tidbit. Still had to guess and analyze her actions and emotions at the time. It was easy to guess what she'd done after she was ten, that was when she-

Crack!

It had been raining for several minutes now, with cracks and booms of lightening echoing in the hospital. It was an anomaly, the rain, to Jo; she predicted no rain for today. Another crack echoed, then another, and another until one final boom resonated from the halls and through her bones. And then the entire building began to shake and sway, trembling like the cold. Josephine was lurched from her chair and thrown across the hallway, landing against one of the walls as she slid down to the shaking floor.

Screams traveled down the halls at the movements, and crashes appeared in the silence for what felt like years until it stopped. There was a pause in time as the minds of hundreds, maybe a thousand, cleared. And then wails, screams, and tears were shed in the next moment. Jo didn't understand what had happened; all she knew was that something had terribly gone wrong for this many people to become upset. Lisa ran to Jo and helped the 'royalty' up from her spot. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, and you?" Lisa looked down at herself. Her clothes were rumpled but she appeared to have suffered no damage until she lightly touched the back of her head. Showing her hand to Jo, the older woman recognized the substance immediately. Blood. Jo grabbed Lisa's arm and quickly led her to the closest room. Inside, people crowded the windows. Jo ignored them, inspecting the damage to the girl's head. Placing a band aid on the cut, Jo turned her focus to Lisa herself. Tears streamed down her face. "What's wrong?"

"The window," she whispered. Jo turned around and looked out the window for the first time. People clung to one another for unknown reasons, tears falling down their faces as wails of agony-or was it dread filled the building? Outside, Earth hung, suspended by an invisible string. They were…on the moon, Jo realized. Lisa dropped to her knees, clinging onto Jo's leg for support. "My mum…I was supposed to visit her today. She needed someone to babysit Abbey. I never got to say…goodbye."

Josephine Lewis looked down at Lisa Stewart. The girl was crying, thinking she was going to die at this moment. Even with the knowledge of her cancer destroying her systems one by one slowly, giving her maybe a year left to live, she still cried at dying at random. "You're sad," Josephine stated, the blonde released a sob that was lodged in her throat. The girl nodded and Jo stood there for a moment more before releasing herself from Lisa's grip, leaving her to cry about the inevitable-if not now she would die, then later.

Jo left the room to venture down the halls of the hospital. They were still alive, they were still breathing, and those windows were definitely not air tight, which meant there's some sort of barrier keeping the air inside, keeping them alive. Jo pondered all the ideas that could have caused this. It was definitely alien technology, but it was unclear as to which aliens and the means behind the situation.

The girl needed to find a whiteboard.

Walking down each hallway, she checked each room she passed. It had only been ten minutes before the other noises came in like a hurricane hurdling for Florida. They were deep, gruff voices followed by boots marching on tile floors. And every few moments there'd be another noise, like a scanner of sorts before one of them resumed their march. Jo was just passing a veranda when she was pushed to the ground by an unexpected source.

"Oops! Sorry! Got to go! Come on Martha!" a _very_ familiar voice called out after Jo fell. She didn't see his face from the floor; she didn't need to when she saw the blue pants and red converse that flew across the floor as he dragged another person with him. It was the Doctor. But she only saw him for another second before he disappeared down a corridor. Jo slowly got up. Her shoulder had a dull throb from the building moving, but it now hummed in pain when she was hit by the Doctor.

Josephine got up from the ground and continued her search for a white board.

-/JEL/-

She'd been down countless halls, checked many rooms, and was still not catalogued _or_ found a room with the things she needed. She growled at her most recent room. It was completely empty! Nothing in there at all except for two cabinets! All she wanted was a white surface to write down her ideas, but noooo she just _haaaaaaaad_ to be off her game (whatever that meant).

She was in an empty hall, probably one of the labs, when she saw a girl run into one of the rooms. After checking three more rooms, Jo heard her leave the same room in a rush. "Screw this. Next room I find, if there's a pen or marker, I'm just writing on the walls," she growled after checking two more stupid rooms.

She entered the same room that that woman had just left and stilled in her tracks. There, working on the computer and having a fuss, was the Doctor. He kept growling and pointing the device at a computer while he muttered to himself something along the lines of, "Jadoon platoon on the moon. This is bloody rubbish!" She stood there, completely frozen as she watched him. He wore the same clothes she saw him last in-straight down to the mess of his hair.

"Why are you just standing there Mar-oh hello," he greeted once he noticed her, looking straight at her.

"Doctor," her voice was curt.

"Do I know you?"

"I'd be surprised if you did recognize me, have you seen any markers around, maybe a whiteboard perhaps?"

"No I can't say I have. Now hold on a minute," he said as he got up from his seat. He stood close to her, trying to place her face in his mind, staring directly at her dilated eyes. "You're-you're-"

"Doctor, you said we wouldn't meet again," she told him seriously.

"But you're in America," he stated, confused.

"Had to move back, do you know my name?"

"Of course I know you're name, I saw you…what, was it a few days ago?"

"More like a year, Doctor."

"Explains the hair," he shook his head, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to figure out who you are, not locked up in another hospital, god forbid I have to save you from another one of those."

"Personal reasons as to why I'm here. The better question is why haven't you looked me up on the Internet or whatever database you use?"

"What?"

"Just look me up; it'll clear some things up. Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be finding a whiteboard and or markers, Doctor," she saluted with her right hand before turning away, heading for the door.

"Wait!-Don't salute-What's that on your hand?" he called after seeing some sort of device on the skin of her right hand.

"Just search Josephine Lewis that way we won't run into each other again, Doctor," Jo called back as she ran down the hall. Turning left, she found herself in a new section of the hospital, waiting to be explored.

-/JEL/-

After leaving the Doctor, Jo found herself a nice large, white room with no whiteboard, but markers for her to draw with. Instantly, she picked up the markers and wrote down equations and formulas along the board. First she calculated the amount of time left she had to function at her usual pace before the air got to thin. After that, she guessed the number of oxygen tanks that would be used immediately and the number that'd be left out in the hospital.

She calculated that 99.2% of the population would survive this occurrence if they returned to the planet in time if they revolted against the aliens and got the patients that were delicate to safety. There'd be no chance for them to survive if they weren't returned to the planet, with or without all the oxygen tanks in the world to keep one person alive. By now one of the creatures (probably called Judoon) had stopped by, so, she could now calculate the workings of their armor, its purpose, and the purpose of their scanners.

The Judoon that scanned her was highly confused on what she was doing, but quickly ignored her after deeming it stupid and leaving her to her equations. She learned earlier that in less than a half hour she'd have to start functioning with lower levels of air—but by now, twenty five minutes passed. Growling at the time on her watch, Jo found an oxygen tank and set it up for the lowest air release so she could last longer. After doing such, Jo returned to the walls but went to a blank space. Quickly, she wrote one last message,

_Sorry Will, it seems as though you lose another. I do admire you on some level and I believe that your ideas in politics will get you re-elected, I calculated an 85% chance of you winning at the moment. Tell Jack I said bye._

_~Jo_

After writing a note, Josephine resumed writing out equations, but this time, the design to her most recent invention along with its uses. Four minutes passed. Grabbing her oxygen tank, Josephine Lewis slowly walked down the halls. By now, she heard the rumbling of the ships that the creatures came from leaving the moon's surface. Jo didn't know the specific workings of those creatures and why they were there, but she did think that they would return the building to Earth if they found what they were looking for.

Five minutes passed and everyone was on the floor, unconscious from the lack of oxygen but Jo continued forward. Finding another empty room with a window, Jo sat on the hospital bed and increased her oxygen intake. She stared outside the window, finding Earth to be calm and serene, but knowing deeply that it was not in any way _calm_. She heard another crack. Looking out from the window, rain fell from the sky.

"Impossible," she whispered as she stared at the heavy descending rain. It was strictly impossible for this to happen and she found herself staring harder and longer, trying to understand what was really happening. And then the rain began to move upwards, that's when the building began to shake once more. Another large and loud crack resonated in the silent hospital and a blinding white flash surrounded the entire window's view. When it was gone, so were they from the moon. Gasps and coughs of air filled the building as ambulances and police sirens surrounded the area. The police and paramedics entered the building immediately to do their jobs.

Jo followed down the halls, finding herself back in the cancer section of the hospital. Her doctor wasn't inside the office, but she decided to write a note for her and take her file. File in hand; Jo retraced her steps to the white room that she scribbled on. Quickly, she wiped down the work about her invention. Just when she began to erase the message to her friends and family, she heard the door open from behind her.

A second passed and then he spoke, "Really Jo? All you have to say to me is goodbye? You didn't regret anything you hadn't done with this fabulous face? At all?"

The girl turned around to face the anomaly. He was smiling at her in a way that others would deem flirtatiously but she knew this just as how Jack greeted people. "I saw the Doctor again."

"No wonder all of you lived. But seriously Jo, all you had to say to me was 'bye'? Will was getting all frantic over you and was about to launch missiles into space," he told her.

Jo rolled her eyes, "Tell Will I'm an adult and I find his protectiveness idiotic."

"You can tell him yourself," the ex-Prime Minister spoke once entering the room.

"Yes, well, I'm correct and still don't understand your actions. You don't exactly have parental feelings towards me so-"

"Ouch, Jo, that really hurt," he said as he clutched his 'heart', "How was the appointment?"

"It didn't occur due to the alien event. But I did get my file," she held up the file.

"And the hand?" Jack asked, noticing more wiring added to the device on her right hand.

"More functional after the most recent updates to the technology." Both men nodded. Then they both let out their arms.

"Shall we?" they suggested. The girl looped her arms into the immortal man and older gentleman's' arms.

"I guess so, but I do need to talk to you about something Jack," Josephine told him.

"Join Torchwood and I'll tell you everything."

"Nice try, I prefer my little lab with my little bits and pieces of technology."

"Yes, we've all seen how well you do with those toys." She nodded as they continued down the halls. People reported to having hallucinations of the Prime Minister and his niece roaming the halls of the hospital later that day. When asked about it, both parties denied it and the third party was left a mystery.


	4. Dammit Doctor!

**Chapter Three: Dammit Doctor!**

Sixteen hours passed by and in that time, Jo questioned Jack about the Doctor. He only told her the basics; that he was a Time Lord (alien), had two hearts, and moved through space and time across galaxies to help both humans and other species. Jo didn't really care though after he told her, all she wanted to know was what the name for his device was. Jack and his team had stared at her for several moments after the amazing story of the Doctor until Ianto told her it was called a Sonic Screwdriver. She asked if they had any of those for her to examine and they stared at her again, telling her they didn't and that if they did, she'd already have it in her lab.

She pouted.

So, for the remainder of those twelve hours she spent drawing up her own blueprints of some variation of said device. Jack inspected the plans several times before deeming it experimental to build, knowing if anyone could create it, it would be her. He was surprised that she had created something so quickly but she just brushed it off by saying she could understand this device easier than the others. Jack stayed with her the entire day, making sure she was absolutely okay. He did that a lot, she realized, checking up on her. She asked him many times why he kept around her but each time he'd just shrug and say, "I tend to watch out for my friends, Jo." She never knew how to respond to that because she hadn't really had a friend before and even before she disappeared they weren't that close. But she didn't know what 'close' was so she left the question to ponder in the back of her mind.

Tonight she was going to a party. Professor Lazarus was going to unveil his masterpiece; it was supposed to change what it meant to be human. Jo scoffed at his television self, having met Lazarus before and learned that he was an old man who was trying to prevent the inevitable. He was also a pervert she realized after he looked at her cleavage the first time they had met. She was only going to this event to see the device he called magnificent and so she could accompany her science clueless uncle (the once Prime Minister) to the party to explain what was happening, _if_ anything happened.

Wearing a dark blue, tight, strapless dress, black heels, and a leather jacket, Jo left her apartment with her hair in a high ponytail. Deeming her clothing already fancy, she decided not to overdo it with lipstick, eyeshadow, or anything else. She already knew that makeup just flawed her skin so she used as little as possible. In her small purse, she carried her necessities and her prototype of the Sonic Screwdriver Version 2.0 that barely fit into the clench itself. Along with her prototype, she carried some basic tools: a normal screwdriver and lock picking tools and her pen so she can write down her ideas. Since yesterday, she decided to return the pen to the necessity group after not finding it when she needed it the most—on the moon. The only thing left was her little piece of security.

The machine on her right hand had two purposes. One was to move said hand, paralyzed by an accident. The other purpose was the needed security of the Prime Minister's niece, even if his term had ended. Will was trying to be re-elected so it'd be best to stay protected. A knife had been implanted on the underside of her wrist. When unlatched and with the flick of her wrist, a knife would be unsheathed and thrown at the attacker. There were three latches total for her to unlock. This improvement was added after she returned with amnesia and no security besides her two fists and feet.

Will was waiting outside her loft with a disapproving look. "What? Yolanda said that I should wear this for the evening," she defended when he looked down at her clothing choice.

"Since when do you listen to my wife and her clothing suggestions?"

"Since when did you decide not to bring your wife to a party?" Jo retorted.

"I didn't bring her because she would be as clueless as me about the workings of Lazarus's _masterpiece_. And…well she'd just be yapping all night about my opponent's incompetence in a fine party and how he shouldn't be running for bloody Prime Minister along with Harriet," he explained.

"Ah, now I see it. Well, I won't talk to you about him if you don't talk about my clothing choice for the evening," Jo suggested and he nodded, accepting the deal, extending his arm for her to hold on to.

"As long as you take off that awful jacket. I told you Jack was going to give you something obnoxious."

"I will, Uncle, but the jacket is bullet proof so I just thought it'd be best to wear when standing next to you."

"I am _not_ a target!" he defended.

"Just a precaution, just a precaution," she muttered to herself as they walked down the streets of the city with no one giving them a second glance. After ten or so minutes of walking, they ended up at Lazarus Laboratories where people began to fill into.

"So Jack was telling me you made a new thingy today in record time."

"Do you and Jack meet up every second of the day to talk about me?" Jo wondered aloud.

"We're just worried about you."

"Did you two do this before I was taken?" Will didn't reply. He looked straight ahead with a solemn face. "You don't have to worry about me-"

"We don't know what happened and you refuse to let either of us take care of you so we're left to become over-protective mother bears whose cub was just poked by a stupid human with a stick."

"I think those mothers should give the cub some breathing room to learn a few things."

"We let you get your own apartment," Will supplied.

"An apartment with three different cameras watching my every room, making company a little hard."

"Hey, if you wanted to bring someone over, be our guest. At least there'd be someone in there with you to give you some much needed se-"

"That's not what I meant and I am not having this sort of conversation with a Prime Minister."

"You can tell me if you want to-"

"Will!" Jo hissed, "I am not having this conversation with you because I do not plan on doing anything to lead up to this conversation."

"So you and Jack haven't-"

"Oh god, Jack and I aren't in any form of relationship that would evolve into such things! I don't have or want anyone to form a relationship that would evolve into those things! Now can we please go into the building and watch Lazarus make a complete fool of himself?"

"Go right ahead m'dear," Will smiled. Jo closed her eyes, letting out a sigh before continuing on to the doors. Once inside, they checked in, gave their coats to someone, and started Will's rounds of meeting people. Jo examined the device while she ate the food.

At one point a woman came up to both of them. She was a young black woman, maybe Josephine's age, in a black dress, necklace, and hair put up in a bun. "Prime Minister, Josephine Lewis, it's an honor to have both of you here this evening. Please enjoy the party and the demonstration. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the professor himself," the woman greeted. She looked around the room before spotting someone, "Now if you'll excuse me, my sister has just arrived. Thank you for coming." And then she left. Will watched her leave but Jo continued to study the device.

"Oh my…" he said after a moment or two.

Jo continued to guess the purpose of the machine while she subconsciously asked, "What is it, Will?"

"Did you say you saw the Doctor yesterday?" Will asked.

"For a brief moment yes, why? I wonder why there's a beam over there…"

"Describe him for me."

Jo glanced over at Will, weariness sketched on her face. "Why?"

He rolled his eyes, "Just tell me."

"Okay, well he's taller than me. When I saw him, he wore a dark blue suit, about the same color as my dress, red converse and red tie. He's got brown hair that is extremely ruffled and his eyes are brown. I'm sure you already know what he looks like, Will. Jack told me you met him for a moment. And with you once being the Prime Minister and all, you must know about him-Jack told me all these things he'd done." Jo pulled out her pen and began writing along her right arm.

"When did Jack tell you all this? Ah never mind, why do you suppose he's here?" he asked. Jo dropped her pen. Looking over at where her uncle was watching, she saw him. The Doctor stood right next to the woman from yesterday in the hospital. He was talking to an older woman wearing a golden gown who was probably mother to the Doctor's hospital friend. He appeared to be floundering in their conversation. The Doctor looked across the room when Jo flew to the floor, picking up her pen.

Before anything else could happen, someone dinged their glass and it got quiet. Lazarus appeared on the steps of his machine. "Ladies and gentlemen. I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight, I'm going to perform a miracle. It is, what I believe, the most important in advance since…" He continued his speech, praising how amazing his creation will be that it'll change what we say is human. When he caught the sight of Jo, he stopped to look at the famous girl before continuing his speech. After the old man was done, he stepped inside his machine.

"Experimenting on himself, that's risky."

"You're one to talk," Will scoffed. Jo rolled her eyes.

"Eh, I was to die anyway. Might as well do it at my own hands." Will leaned into her.

He whispered in Jo's ear, "You were completely suicidal."

"Still am Will, still am." He gave her a look before returning his attention to Lazarus. His team started up the machine and a bright blue light blinded most of the people watching, a small tremble in the ground caused by the machine sounded as it accelerated and the light got brighter in the room. A blaring alarm blocked out the commotion and Jo could hear the Doctor's voice but not his words. That was when the Doctor jumped to the control system to try to stop the machine. Smoke appeared as the machines went overtime.

"Do something Josephine!" Will shouted over the noise, his hands covered his ears. An elderly woman shouted something at the Doctor and he replied angrily, continuing to turn off the machine. When Jo composed herself, she was about to help but the Doctor pulled out one last plug. The machine slowed down immediately and once it had stopped, the Doctor and his friend ran to the entrance and opened it.

Smoke filled out as a man swaggered forward. His hand grabbed the outside and his face appeared out of the smoke. Gasps and murmurs along with camera snaps filled the room when they recognized the man. The Doctor and his friend watched in shock as he touched his face and spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old. And I am reborn!" an applause broke out through the room. Almost everyone was applauding the man. Everyone applauded except for Jo, the Doctor, and the woman next to him.

-/JEL/-

Lazarus walked over to Josephine Lewis. Without her leather jacket on, all the men around the room leered at her with hungry eyes. The strapless tight dress hugging her seduced everyone, including Lazarus. "Josephine Lewis," Lazarus announced as he approached her. The Prime Minister had left her side only moments ago, making her game to all the predators.

"Professor," she greeted curtly with a nod of her head. She had a glass of champagne in her hands and was slowly sipping the alcohol. He looked down at her hand, a giveaway to everyone on who she was. Josephine Lewis, a great Prime Minister's niece, the girl with the mechanical second skin, the scientist that would be known for centuries.

"Did you enjoy the demonstration?" he inquired.

"It was interesting Professor, idiotic though."

"Why do you say that?"

"For one, you operated on yourself-"

"Something you yourself have done." Josephine rolled her eyes.

"And second, you cheated something that should not be cheated."

"So did you my dear," he pointed out.

"And I was wrong to do so. You had a lifetime to live, you should have spent it wisely instead of doing what you did," she scolded. Lazarus stared at the woman before her. She was indeed a beauty, and yet that tongue of hers…

"Tell me, when you grow old and wrinkly, would you try to stop it. To reverse time on your body?"

"No, I would die."

He stared at her, she stared back, and then he sighed, defeated shoulders drooping. "Well then, I guess I won't be able to get through to you."

"I guess not."

"It was a pleasure to see-ah!" he had a spasm for a second before it went away and then his smile returned. "It was a pleasure to see you again my dear. I shall be seeing you later, tell the Prime Minister I say hello." She nodded and Lazarus reached for her right hand, the mechanical second skinned hand. Placing a kiss on the part of her hand with skin on it, he smiled. "A pleasure." She nodded and Lazarus walked away to talk with a bunch of young ladies.

Jo spotted the Doctor and his friend watching over Lazarus, talking to each other. She watched them for a moment before sensing Will standing next to her. "Is this even possible, Jo?"

"Yes, it's possible. A theory really but it is possible."

"And he's perfectly fine?" he questioned.

"I'm not so sure about that part. I was just about to go and find out for myself."

"How do you suppose you'll be doing that?" Will inquired and she looked at him, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "No, no, Jo. I told you, Will, Jack is just going to be a bad influence on Jo. No. Don't give me that look Jo, I will not be an accomplice."

"I'll see you in a bit Will. There are laboratories all over this place-"

"I don't want to know. If I know than I'll have to tell security because I was the Prime Minister so just scurry off and I'll pretend you are using the loo." Jo smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek before sneaking off into the halls of the building.

With DNA on her hand, she entered one of the labs to examine Lazarus. It looked normal for a while as she stared at it, but after few minutes it changed for a moment. Two minutes later, it changed again. "He got his genes to rejuvenate, but he's not stable. They keep changing," she muttered to herself as she examined it closer. When it began to change for longer than a second, Jo got up from her chair. She needed to get Will out. She wasn't completely sure what was going to happen to Lazarus but she wouldn't risk her only family, much less the man running for Prime Minister again.

Returning to the room, she found Will talking to the same woman that the Doctor floundered with earlier. Jo wasted no time though. "Sorry, may I borrow him for a moment; I need to talk to him." The woman nodded instantly at the sight of Jo, recognizing her immediately. Jo pulled him to the side and to an area where no one could listen to them.

"What's wrong Jo? Find something you didn't like while you used other's equipment?" he joked.

"Yes," she said seriously, "Will, I want you to leave this building now. Something's wrong with Lazarus, I don't know what yet, but his DNA keeps mutating. I want you to leave this party as soon as we are done talking and if anyone asks tell them Yolanda was missing you terribly and you just _had_ to go and see her."

"What about you? Why aren't you leaving with me?" he asked, understanding watch she was saying-sort of.

"I need to find the Doctor, if what Jack said is correct, it would probably be smart to tell him what I found," she explained. He nodded and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't get into trouble. Tell the Doctor and then leave, okay?"

"Okay, now leave," Jo ordered. Will let go of her and gave her one last glance before turning around leave. When Jo turned back to the guests, she saw the Doctor and Martha running off towards the doors, her mother was shouting after them. Chasing after them, Jo barely missed getting into the elevator with them but stumbled into the girl that was next to the Doctor.

"You!" the Doctor shouted just as the girl said,"Oi!" When Jo regained her balance she stared at the Doctor.

"Doctor," she greeted, "There's something wrong with Lazarus. His DNA keeps changing, he's not stable-"

"We know," he said, making Jo nod.

"I know you!" the girl announced after actually looking at Jo.

"Really? Who is she Martha?" the Doctor asked.

"I told you Doctor, look me up and now that you didn't, we've stumbled into each other again!"

"Who is she?" the Doctor asked Martha again.

"Josephine Lewis," Martha replied.

"He already knows that, he doesn't actually know what the means though. Are you two chasing after Lazarus?"

"Yes, he and my sister went upstairs and she isn't safe with him," Martha answered.

"Now hold on, who is she?"

"Later Doctor! We need to find Lazarus and stop him before he does anything damaging," Jo told him strictly. The Doctor stared at her, so did Martha, until the elevator dinged and she dragged them out by her hands.

"Where are they?" Martha asked. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. Jo looked around the room and spotted the dead corpse of the elderly woman.

"Infatuated DNA will give off an energy signature, I might be able to pick it up," the Doctor replied. He pressed one of the buttons on the device and it made a beeping noise as he scanned the room. "Got him."

"Where?" Martha asked. Following the beeping noise, the device pointed them to the ceiling. "But this is the top floor…the roof!" Martha and the Doctor ran for the stairs, Jo behind them. She was calculating in her head about how much longer it would be until Lazarus became hungry again-it was soon, very soon. They practically flew up the stairs before they quietly opened the door.

Martha's sister and Lazarus were standing in front of each other, talking about frivolous things, close together. The man stared down at the girl, "_Between the idea and the reality_/ _Between the motion and the act_-"

"_Falls the shadow_," the Doctor finished; the couple turned to the trio.

"So the mysterious Doctor knows his Elliot, I'm impressed," Lazarus stated.

"Martha, what're you doin' here?" the girl asked.

"Tish, get away from him."

"Wut? Don't tell me what to do," Tish defied.

"Never thought you had time for poetry Lazarus," the Doctor pondered, "What you being so busy defying the laws of nature y'know."

"You're right Doctor, one lifetime was too short for me to do anything I like. How much more will I get done in two….or three or four?"

"Doesn't work like that. Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person," the Doctor retorted.

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."

"Or what a curse," Jo spoke, "Look at what you've done to yourself Lazarus."

"Who are you to judge me? You have no right. You're just like me."

"Come here," Martha said.

"You have to spoil everything," Tish started, moving closer to Martha, "Every time I try to find someone nice, you have to find a fault."

"Tish, he's a monster!" Lazarus began to curl in an unappealing way, hearing his back crack made some of them shiver.

"I know the age thing is a bit creepy, but it works for some," Tish replied. And then the noise became louder with the growling and body morphing. Tish looked behind herself as the rest of them stared at Lazarus changing. Martha and Tish looked terrified as he turned into a gigantic creature with a scorpion like body but with a man's head.

"What is that?" someone asked.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted.


	5. The Unexpected Condition

**Chapter Four: The Unexpected Condition**

"Run!" the Doctor shouted as Lazarus straightened himself, preparing to attack. The four of them turned around and ran back to the door and down the stairs. The Doctor shut the door and used his sonic to lock it. Lazarus was growling on the other side, banging to get in. they ran down to the elevators and Martha pressed the down button.

"You okay?" she asked. Tish was breathing heavily.

"I was just going to snog him," she admitted. Lazarus was roaring and banging against the door when the main lights went out, the alarm system activated also, blaring out the monster behind them.

"What's happening?" Martha whispered.

"Umm…intrusion, it triggers a security lockdown; kills the power, stops the lifts, blocks the exits," she explained.

"Keeps Lazarus from breaking through that door," Jo muttered. Lazarus made another banging noise.

"Come on!" The Doctor ran towards them and then down the stairs to the party. They followed him down and they just passed a flight when the door finally gave, roars echoing.

"It's inside!" Martha shouted, stopping at the sound to look up. The Doctor called something before they continued their sprint down the stairs.

"Tish! Is there another exit outside of here?" the Doctor asked.

"There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked by now." People began to notice them.

"Martha, setting fifty four! Hurry!" the Doctor orderd, passing the device to her. Martha caught it and fled as the Doctor got on the steps of the machine and called out, "Listen to me! You people are in serious danger; you need to get out of here right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous, the biggest danger here is choking on an olive," a woman in golden clothing scoffed. Jo was standing next to him when a crash resonated and Lazarus appeared. He was still in his monstrous form, roaring at the people, when everyone ran towards the exit screaming. People were falling at the mess Lazarus created and eventually Tish and Martha got the door open.

"No! Get away from her!" the Doctor shouted when the woman in gold stood frozen in front of Lazarus, unmoving. In one moment she screamed and in the next Lazarus stabbed her with his tail and she was sucked dry, leaving just a husk behind. Then the monster turned to Martha's mother and presumably brother who had fallen. He opened his monstrous mouth when Jo unlatched something on her right arm and flung her wrist at the monster from behind.

A knife left her and impaled Lazarus's head, getting his attention immediately after the Doctor shouted, "Lazarus! Leave them alone!"

Martha had gotten to her family and began to help them across the room.

"What's the point? You can't control it, the mutation's too strong," the Doctor taunted, slowly backing away from it, "Killing those people won't help you."

"You are a fool," Jo added.

"Just a vain old man who thought he could defy nature. Only nature got you back. You're a _joke_ Lazarus! A failure!" the Doctor continued. Lazarus growled at him and followed the Doctor when he turned around and began to run through the halls. Lazarus followed behind him. Jo was about to follow after him when she heard the people banging on the doors whilst screaming for attention. Jo ran down the steps and searched for the security desk, thinking of means of escape. Jumping across the desk, Jo began to mess with the wirings of the system. Soon after her, Martha jumped across the desk and flashed the sonic at the system, opening the doors and turning the power back on. People fled from the building, pushing each other out of the way.

"It really comes in use doesn't it," Jo spoke; Martha jumped in surprise.

"I didn't see you!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest. When she calmed down, Martha smiled, "It was really an honor to meet you Josephine Lewis."

"Well, I wouldn't say an honor," she muttered.

"But you're….you're the Prime Minister's niece! You were in the papers for months last year! One of my teachers couldn't stop talking about you and your book!"

"Yes and you've traveled with the Doctor I'm assuming," Jo guessed.

"A bit, why? Do you know him?"

"Not at all and he doesn't know me, I've just seen him around a lot lately. Can I see it?"

"See what?"

"The screwdriver, I wanted to see if my prototype was even close to the real thing," Jo explained.

"I would like to, I really would, but he doesn't like people messing with his screwdriver-oh! I need to return this to him! I need to help him!"

"I'll help you help him," Jo suggested, Martha nodded enthusiastically. Before they left, Martha went to her family to inform them of her plans. The woman and her mother got into a huge argument until Martha just left them, grabbing Jo's hand and leading her across the building. When they heard a large explosion, Martha dragged them towards it. When they turned around the corner, they ran into the Doctor.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm returning this; thought you'd need it."

"How'd you-"

"I heard the explosion, guessed it was you," Martha explained.

"I lost Lazarus."

"Is he dead?" Jo asked. A rumble came from down the halls and Lazarus the monster jumped across, shattering the glass sides. The Doctor said something to Martha, but Josephine was distracted by the monster, before they sprinted down the halls, Lazarus trailing behind. When they got back to the main room, the Doctor began to search for a place to hide.

"What now?" Martha asked when Lazarus joined them with another crash.

"Can't leave him outside! Come on, get in!" the Doctor replied, opening the door to the machine. Martha was ushered in and when the Doctor turned back, Jo was messing with her right hand. A click was heard and when Jo flung her wrist at the monster approaching them, he watched as a knife flew across the room and at one of Lazarus's arms. It was futile but it stopped Lazarus for a second and in that second, the Doctor pulled Josephine into the tight space. It could _maybe_ fit two, but with three, they were squished. Jo pushed herself into the corner, trying to make herself as small as possible even though she was claustrophobic.

"Are we hiding?" Martha wondered.

"No he knows we're here but he won't destroy it to get to us, it's his masterpiece," Jo explained.

"But we're trapped!"

"Well, that's a slight problem," the Doctor replied.

"So we don't have a plan," the darker skinned woman turned to the Doctor.

"No, the plan was to get inside of here."

"Then what?" Jo inquired.

"Well," he paused, "then I come up with another plan."

"In your own time then." Lazarus was growling on the other side of the machine. The Doctor reached into his pockets making Martha shout, "Hey!" which in turned caused him to apologize as he pulled the device out. "What are you goin' to do with that?"

"Improvise," he replied as he slid down to the floor. Using his Sonic Screwdriver, he unlatched a hatch that was filled with the wirings of the machine. He began to mess with the wiring as Lazarus circled the machine, trying to find a way in without destroying the machine. The Doctor explained to Martha how Lazarus wasn't alien and what caused Lazarus to become a monster. After using the machine, Lazarus caused his dormant genes to unlock and take over his original genes; those same genes were what made him the monster. As the Doctor continued to work with the wiring, Jo wanted to assist but found it impossible with the tight space they were in.

Lazarus pressed the start button on the machine outside, making it start up again and Jo to inwardly panic. "Doctor, what's happening?"

"Lazarus switched the machine on," Jo answered instead.

"That's not good is it?"

"Well I was hoping it would give us a bit longer to work this out," he answered. The noises began to accelerate in speed and volume.

"What are you doing!?" Martha shouted after the Doctor began mumbling to himself.

"I'm trying to make the energy reflect itself."

"Will that kill it?" The Doctor then went into a deep explanation behind it.

"Basically yes," Jo informed.

"Doctor, hurry up!" Martha shouted once the light increased inside and the sounds got louder.

"Just one more!" he shouted as he continued fiddling with the device. Jo closed her eyes and pushed herself further into the corner. Then an ear shattering boom resonated from the machine as the energy flew away from the machine instead of into. Jo heard Lazarus being flung across the floor, crashing into the ground. A moment later, the Doctor opened the doors and they exited the machine.

"Oh, I thought we were going to go through the blender," Martha admitted.

"Really shouldn't take that long to reverse the polarity, I must be out of practice," the Doctor replied. Jo didn't speak; she just looked across the room. Lying on the floor, a few feet away, was a naked and dead Lazarus. The Doctor and Martha stepped closer to him but Jo watched from the steps. Martha let out a sigh.

"He seems so…human again," she turned to look at the man standing next to her. "It's kind of pitiful."

"Elliot saw that too. _This is the way the world ends_/_Not with a bang-_-"

"…_.but a whimper_," Jo finished. The Doctor glanced back at the girl, but she was already walking towards the exit.

-/JEL/-

An ambulance reached the building by the time Josephine left Lazarus. When he found her, William engulfed Jo into a gigantic hug, crushing her into him. "I told you to get in, get out," he reminded her.

"With the Doctor, I don't think it's ever that easy."

"Yolanda is going to have my head when she finds out," Will stated, fear evident in his voice.

"The Prime Minister is afraid of his own wife," she smirked.

"Ex-Prime Minister Jo, and yes, yes I am. Jack found out-"

"He always does."

"-and wanted me to tell you that he couldn't help out due to an emergency at Torchwood."

"Thank god, I just wanted there to be one-time where Jack didn't have to come 'save' me when I didn't need or want it." Behind them, a slap was heard. Jo turned around and found the Doctor touching his cheek tenderly while Martha and her mother had an argument, with her siblings and the Doctor adding in comments once or twice. Then the sound of a vehicle crashing made Jo tense in Will's arms. The Doctor ran immediately towards the sound and Martha was about to follow him when her mother pulled her back. After a few words spoken, both Martha and Tish sprinted off to the Doctor.

A moment later, so did Josephine.

"Jo! Where are you going?" Will called.

"I'll be back Minister! I just need to check something out!" she shouted as she ran down the street. When she caught up with them, they were entering the cathedral. The Doctor was using his screwdriver as radar device again while they crept towards Lazarus's hiding place.

"Do you think he's in here?" Martha wondered aloud.

"Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?" the Doctor replied.

"My lab," Josephine muttered to herself. Tish looked at her funnily before they continued through the main room of the building. The steadily increasing beeping of the screwdriver made the Doctor continue down the aisle with three women following behind him. Once they reached the front of the room, they spotted Lazarus sitting on the ground with just a blanket covering his body. The Doctor circled around him.

"Came here before, a lifetime ago, I thought I was going to die out there. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child, the sound of planes and bombs outside."

"The blitz," the other man concluded.

"You read about it," Lazarus said sadly.

"I was there," the Doctor told him, making the other scoff.

"You're too young."

"So are you," he retorted. Lazarus chuckled which turned then to a cry of pain as the early stages of transformation began. His bones cracked and he arched his back in pain.

"In the morning the fires had died," he panted, "but I was still alive. I swore I would never face death like that again. So….defenseless, I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it."

"That's what you were trying to do today."

"That's what I _did_ today," Lazarus corrected.

"What about all those people who died?"

"They were nothing. I changed the course of history."

"Any of them could too; do you think history is only done with equations? Facing death is a part of being human, you can't change that."

"No _Doctor_, avoiding death is being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fiber of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me is trying to do. I've only been simply more…successful," another crack was heard emitting from his body, making him cry out in pain.

"Look at yourself, you're mutating. You have no control over it, do you call that success?"

"I call it progress," more cracks and sounds came from him. "I'm more now than I was, more than just an ordinary human."

"There's no such thing as an ordinary human." Lazarus cried out and fell to the floor. Martha moved to the Doctor and whispered something to him and he replied in another whisper, free from the monster's ears.

"You're so sentimental Doctor, maybe you are older than you look," he leered.

"I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired; tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything turn to dust. If you live long enough Lazarus, the only certainty you'll have left is that you'll end up alone."

"That's a price worth paying," he whispered.

"Is it?" Another crack came from his body, making him arch back and pant. He looked over at the Doctor.

"I _will_ feed soon."

"I'm not going to let that happen," the Doctor promised. Martha began to move.

"You haven't been able to stop me so far-"

"Leave him Lazarus," Martha spoke. Tish was standing next to her and Jo began to move away from them. "He's old and bitter, I thought you had taste for _fresher_ meat."

"Martha, no!" the Doctor warned, but it was too late. The monster growled, jumping up and chasing after the sprinting Martha and Tish. They yelled at each other as they entered the staircase with Lazarus following behind. A roar sounded out a while later as the monster took over the man. Their heels continued to click as they ran up the stairs. Jo followed the Doctor into a different part of the room and he began to search for them. "Martha!" he called.

"Doctor!"

"Take him to the top! The very top of the bell tower do you hear me?"

"To the top!" Tish muttered to Martha and Jo could hear something moving towards them, "Then what-"

"Martha, come on!" A roar came from their area and they ran away from the beast. The Doctor sprinted towards a small staircase, one that would lead to the large organ player. Jo ran underneath the bell tower to try and see what was going on. Screams and shrieks came from the girls as Lazarus rumbled, the organ beginning to play. The monster flung its tail across the hole; towards the girls, making them shriek and the Doctor began to play faster.

Jo unlatched her last latch of her device, positioning herself in a way that she could shoot it at the monster if needed to. Lazarus struck Martha on her head, making her tumble through the broken railing and almost fall to her death if she hadn't caught onto the edge, hanging on to it and shrieking, he Doctor played faster and louder. The tail of Lazarus was making its way to Martha when Tish shouted a protest and Jo flung her wrist upwards. It hit Lazarus perfectly and the tail retreated from Martha, instead jumping across the hole.

The song the Doctor was playing was pounding their ears, Martha was about to let go from the intensity when the monster let a wail. It struggled for a moment before it lost its balance and fell through the rails and down the hole, hurtling towards Jo. She leaped out of the way just as it crashed to the ground and the Doctor stopped making his noise. Martha let out another shriek as she slipped, but Tish caught her and pulled her over the hole and onto a flat surface. "Martha!" the Doctor called. Another shriek and Martha was on solid ground.

"I'm okay! We're both okay!" Martha called back. Jo got up from the ground. Lying inches away from her was a naked and dead Lazarus. He was staring off into the distance, like he was searching for those fires that were once upon him now returned, and knowing that this time, he would die. She stood up, moving away from the Professor she once worked with for a short period of time. Who would have known he would turn out this way? Another monster in the end.

The Doctor came running over to the body. He perched down next to Lazarus once Josephine backed away from it. She placed herself against the wall. He stared down at the dead man with pitiful eyes. "You know…he was right about me," she spoke after the silence became too much.

"About what?"

"We are the same, on some level."

"How so? Did _you_ try to bend the laws of nature?"

"I cheated death, something he tried."

"He didn't cheat death, he cheated himself."

"Have you cheated Doctor? Have you bent the rules before? I have this…friend. He is an interesting man, an anomaly really, and I ask him many times why he sticks around me. He told me once he wanted someone who could understand what it felt like to know you cheated something that shouldn't have been cheated. At that exact moment, I realized that I was wrong to have done what I had done. I did something terribly awful, something like what Lazarus did and he knew it."

"What did you do Josephine Lewis?"

"You really should have followed my advice and left me in your past. All you had to do was type in three simple initials: J.E.L. And then we could've just been a brief meeting, like talking to a tourist or someone eating next to you in a coffee shop."

"But it's much more fun to talk to the person."

"Not really, I don't find explaining my past very 'fun'. They always ask how I felt and what made me do such things. Never could answer those questions…I think you should go now Doctor," she said. "I don't think I should be talking with you at all really and I don't believe talking with me is the best idea for you too…Martha seems helpful in your learning to care again."

"Who says I need to be taught anything?"

"The way you talked earlier…to Lazarus…You're tired Doctor? A tired old man, trapped in the vicious cycle of life. I do hope for it to get better for you, I really do. People already see enough pain each day. I know enough to know that some people don't deserve pain. I can already tell you don't."

"And Lazarus does?"

"No, Lazarus doesn't. It takes true evil to make me want the suffering of another. Go Doctor. Tell Martha it was a pleasure meeting her too, an honor really." The Doctor stared at Lazarus for another moment before shutting his eyes, by then he had returned to his older self. The Doctor stood up and sprinted to the other room while Josephine crept back into the night, her shadows her sanctuary.

-/JEL/-

Will drove Josephine to her loft that evening. He walked her up to her door and made sure she entered without any problems. He thought she was going to break down at one point but soon he realized that Josephine had never broken down before, not since Conner and Danielle's deaths. Not when she was diagnosed. Not when she disappeared for months and returned with some scars. It wasn't even when he discovered a tape of her cries in the night and he confronted her. Why would Josephine break down now? Over the death of creepy Lazarus too, it was just a hope for some emotion to leak through her. A lost cause too.

After Will had left, Josephine changed out of her dress and entered her shower. When she returned to her room, she pulled on a pair of jeans, white converse, and a black V-neck. She was going to go get herself some food at the Chinese place down the street since running around for an hour or two did make one hungry. She had just reattached her device to her hand and gone down to her kitchen to get her wallet when she heard it. A slight creak on her floor boards had her unlatching one of her newly replaced latches and flinging her wrist at the intrusion in a second. Her aim was fortunately off at the moment because it only grazed their forearm and got stuck in the wall behind them. Although, it was a good thing because Martha was standing there. "Martha!" Jo scolded in surprise.

This was also when she realized that the TARDIS was in her loft. And the Doctor was leaning against his transport with a small smile on his face. "Sheesh, all I wanted to do was thank her for thanking me for thanking her and I almost get stabbed!"

"I apologize, Martha, I didn't know it was you. There's a reason I have those knives."

"And that would be?" the Doctor inquired.

"For when people decide to come and kidnap me."

"Yes, right never mind then."

"Has he looked me up yet?" Jo asked Martha.

"Refuses to do so and keeps asking me."

"Dammit Doctor! See, this is why I told you to look me up! So you wouldn't come find me in my loft and I almost impale your companion!" She lowered her voice, glancing around her apartment, "You do realize I have three cameras watching me at all times and if there is any form of danger, highly trained gunmen will start shooting you both right?"

"And why's that?"

"Remember that friend I was telling you about?" the Doctor nodded. "He didn't take it so well when I was taken the last time."

"The Prime Minister was going crazy," Martha agreed.

"What's the Prime Minister got to do with anything? What is he? Your boyfriend? Spouse-"

"I'm going to stop you know because that is so wrong when you talk about my uncle like that. That is just…disgusting Doctor."

"Wait, don't tell me," he was laughing like it was a joke now, "Don't tell me that this girl is Josephine Erica Lewis, niece of William Curtis. The same niece created the first-no…No! You can't be, but you-"

"Finally! He realizes! Now he can move on and let me get back to my life while he travels across time and space." Jo returned to her kitchen to get her necessities from her clutch.

"Josephine," Martha called, making her stop, "We were just wondering if you'd like to go on one trip with us as a thank you. It's the least we can do since you helped us today."

"Thanks but no thanks. From what I can tell, going on just one trip is like an innocent person trying crack for the first time: you get addicted and want more." She turned back to her kitchen and pulled out a knife from one of her drawers. Latching it into her device, Jo placed her tools on the inside of the leather jacket she now wore.

The Doctor and Martha watched as Jo casually strolled through her loft towards the wall behind Martha and pulled out the blade. Then they watched as she threw the knife across the room and into the kitchen, hitting an apple perfectly, Jack taught her that one. The Doctor noticed a painting on the wall. It was…different. "Who painted this?" he asked as he walked closer, noticing the detail of each spec. This kind of artwork wouldn't be in the loft of a genius who's fixated on symmetry.

"I did."

"But your works were always realistic, symmetrical. This one is abstract, none of your pieces were abstract."

"This hasn't been show to the public eye Doctor."

"Ah, the mysterious lost paintings of J.E.L. Where's the other one. Legend says there were two of them."

"Buried," she answered simply.

"Why's that? What would it be buried with-ow!" he exclaimed when Martha elbowed him in the gut.

"I'm sorry about him. Please, just one trip. Anything you'd like too," she offered.

"Anything?"

"There you go Martha, we all know what she's going to ask for-"

"One trip and I would like to examine his screwdriver for at least five to ten minutes," Jo accepted.

"What?" the Doctor sputtered as Martha replied, "Sure! Welcome aboard Josephine."

Josephine nodded and approached the TARDIS. Without having to touch the doors, it opened for her. Stepping into the machine she smiled in wonder at the inside. "What? How did she…?" the Doctor asked behind them. Jo thought Martha shrugged before entering the TARDIS also, dragging the blabbering man with her. Martha handed Jo the screwdriver and she gleefully examined it.

The Doctor was still staring at her when Martha snapped her fingers at the Doctor to start the TARDIS. He instantly started pressing buttons and pulling levers, starting the first trip of many.


	6. Leather Jacket, Happy Primes, and 42 Min

**Chapter Five: Leather Jacket, Happy Primes, and 42 Minutes**

Jo was only in the TARDIS for six minutes and thirty one point fourteen seconds before there was a disturbance. Martha and the Doctor were conversing loudly about how the Doctor made her phone able to communicate with anyone during her time period at anytime, anywhere while they were traveling the universe. Jo just muffled out the noises of Martha's squeals. Martha had in fact, changed once again. Jo guessed that they had already traveled somewhere before deciding to come back and take Jo as a one-time adventurer.

The screwdriver was magnificent to Jo. It had a vast amount of options and settings for it to be used. It was like an override to all the obstacles the universe held against them-or their enemies. It worked on everything except for wood and she was already thinking of ways to override that part and keep all of its good qualities. It had a blue tip that when activated, lit up and started making certain noises for certain purposes. The device was somewhat large in her hands but then again, compared to the Doctor's hands, she was smaller. After mentally taking apart the sonic screwdriver, she was able to recreate the device in her mind like a diagram. Her eyes stared off into space but her mind worked faster than it had when was young and painting a human from memory.

Her hand was subconsciously reaching into her leather jacket and pulling out her own sonic when there was a large bump into their journey. Her prototype flung out of her hands and across the room as everyone stumbled around. Both Martha and the Doctor were able to hold on to where they were standing but Jo was flung out of her chair at once-and into the Doctor. He grasped her arm to hold her still while he looked at a computer. "Distress signal," he announced before looking down at her, "Sorry Josephine. Locking on!" He lifted up one of his legs and attempted to pull down the lever, "There might be a bit—"

The whole TARDIS shook again and the Doctor fell back, onto Jo before getting up immediately and looking across the controls to Martha, who was getting back up as well. "…turbulence, sorry," he finished before getting up and racing towards the doors; calling back as he went, "Come on Martha, Josephine. Let's have a look!"

Martha let out a small groan and followed after him. Josephine got up from her spot and grabbed her now broken prototype and followed after them to hear Martha say, "Whew, it's like a sauna in here!" Shucking off her jacket, Martha dropped it to the ground, whereas Jo pulled hers tighter around her body. The leather jacket made her feel somewhat safer-a ridiculous thought but it helped. Since it was bulletproof, she couldn't die via bullets unless pointed at her head. Plus Jack had given it to her so she knew there would be other security features somehow etched into the fabric.

"Venting systems, working at full power to cool down…um whatever it is we are. Well! Can't stand the heat," he replied, opening the doors with a loud squeak. "That's better," he murmured.

"Oi! You three!"

"Get out of there!" a woman shouted. Three sets of feet were running towards them, leaping at different times.

"Seal that door now!" a man ordered. Josephine had barely gotten to the other side before a man sealed the door shut. It was hot and Jo was not going to be a lunatic that sweat herself. Sadly, she pulled off her jacket and tugged her hair up into a tight ponytail.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" the woman-the captain asked. All three of them were practically dripping in sweat.

"Are you police?" the man who sealed the door asked. Josephine wasn't paying attention to the words though; her mind was already analyzing his identity by his characteristics, then the captain, and then the other man.

"Why would we be police?" the Doctor asked.

"We got your distress signal," Martha explained. By now, Josephine was drawing conclusions about what was wrong with the ship.

"This is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" Judging by the powering down of the humming, the ship went dead three minutes and fifty two seconds ago.

"It went dead four minutes ago," the woman explained. Jo had to bite her tongue to keep herself from correcting her.

"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to do what you're supposed to do Captain," the other man interrupted with his deep voice. An alarm went off and a robotic voice said, 'Secure Closure Active'.

"What?" the woman's high voice asked as the younger man said, "The ship's gone mad." Josephine by now had spotted a young woman sprinting down the halls, doors sealing shut behind her, barely missing her.

"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area 27!" Their door shut loudly. "Who're you?"

The Doctor was about to respond but Martha beat him to it, "He's the Doctor and I'm Martha, hello." She began to walk towards the window, like she was drawn to it.

"And you?" the girl asked.

"Jo," Josephine replied, examining the pipelines.

"_Impact in forty two minutes, twenty seven_," the voice announced.

"We'll get out of this, I promise," the captain told her crew.

"Doctor," Martha called. Jo looked over at her for a second before staring at the girl and analyzing her too.

"Forty two minutes until what?" the Doctor asked, ignoring Martha.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted this time. Josephine's head snapped towards the Doctor as he ran to Martha, who was at the window. "Look!"

"Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun," the captain's voice broke for a moment. The alarms were blazing into Josephine's head and yet she found a soothing lullaby in the chaotic noise, calming her in this bizarre situation.

The Doctor sprinted back to the captain and grabbed her by the upper arm. "How many crew members on board?" he demanded.

"Seven including us."

"Transport across the galaxy, everything is automated for us, we just keep-"

"Pull the others, I'll get you out!" the Doctor shouted, sprinting back to the door we had entered. He started to pull at the handle. The crew members began to shout in protest.

"What's he doing?!"

"Doctor, don't!" the captain shouted, but the Doctor continued. He got it open and a large gust of hot air blew him back to the ground with an 'Ah!' Martha went to his side immediately and Jo, with the help of the girl, closed the door quickly.

"What're you doing? My ship's in there!" the Doctor protested,

"In the vent chamber?" the younger man asked, disbelieving.

"It's our life boat," he explained.

"It's lava."

"Temperature is going mad in there, it's at three thousand degrees in ten seconds and still rising," the girl announced.

"Channeling the air, closer we get to that sun, the stronger it gets in there," the younger man explained.

"We're stuck here," Martha simplified, looking at the Doctor.

"So, we fix the engines and steer the ship away from the sun! Done! Simple. Engineering done here is it?"

"Yes," the captain gasped, following the already running away Doctor through the rooms. Everyone else followed. The computer updated the timeframe by stating that two minutes had passed since last time. We went down three rooms and a set of stairs.

"Blimey, do you always leave things in such a mess?" the Doctor asked, approaching the engines.

"Oh my god."

"What the hell happened?"

"Ugh, it's wrecked," the younger man stated, looking at the wrecked engine.

"Pretty efficiently too, someone knew what they were doing," the Doctor analyzed moments after Jo had.

"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?" the captain asked. One of the crew said no.

"Do you mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha asked the Doctor. The captain went to a communication system and asked for Korwin and Ashton.

"Oh, we're in the Torajie system, lovely. You're a long way from home Martha, Josephine. Half a universe away."

"Yeah? Feel's it. How 'bout you Josephine, feel half a universe away?"

"I don't understand the question. You can't feel your location or distance from home. I feel as though I'm on a ship that's going to crash into that star in less than forty minutes; hot and sweaty."

Martha stared at her.

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion, hasn't that been outlawed?" the Doctor asked the captain. The captain and the younger man looked at each other.

"We're due for upgrading next docking," she replied. She hesitated. That means she had been using this form of fuel for a while now, a long while. "Scanell, engine report," she ordered. The captain moved over to the older man who was trying to get the report from the computer.

"Can't, no response," he told her once the computer beeped.

"What?" The captain looked at the computer herself while the man went to the engine. He pulled out a long black wire.

"They burnt out," he announced, dropping the wire, "Controls is a wreck, I can't get them back online."

"Oh come on! Axillary engines, every craft's got axillaries," the Doctor protested.

"We don't have access to them from here. The axillary controls are in the front of the ship," the captain explained.

"There are twenty nine password sealed doors between us and there, you'll never get there on time."

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked.

"No, sealed closed means what it says. They're all deadlocked sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use," the Doctor muttered.

"Or my hand," Jo said lowly.

"Nothing's any use; we got no engines, no time, and no chance," the older man brooded.

"Oh listen to you," the Doctor interrupted, "Defeated before you're even started! Where's your spirit? What are all the door passwords?"

"They're all randomly generated, well most of them. Sorry, Riley Vashtee," the younger man introduced.

"Well then what are you waiting for Riley Vashtee? Get on it," the Doctor interrupted.

"It's a two person job," he started his explanation, moving to some gear on the walls, "One attaches this for the questions and the other to carry this, the oldest and cheapest security system around. Right Captain?"

"Simple, just like you say Riley."

"I try to be helpful."

"I'll help you, make myself useful," Martha volunteered.

"It's remotely controlled by a computer panel, that's why it needs two." They started to head off towards their unlocking. Josephine inspected the machinery with interest.

"Oi!" the Doctor called out, Martha looked back, "Be careful."

"You too," she smiled before following Riley. Only a second went by before another subject caught their attention.

"McDonnel, its Ashton," a voice called across the communication system. The captain ran towards the system to reply.

"Where are you? Is Korwin with you?" she replied.

"Get up to the med center now," Ashton told her. Captain McDonnel moved away from it and started to leave. The Doctor followed behind her, leaving Josephine and the other two behind.

"Erina," the girl greeted with a nod before she moved to the machinery.

"Orwin," the other added. Josephine nodded towards them.

"Still Josephine," she replied before moving to the engines and beginning her work without any questions. Soon after, they joined in and helped her.

-/JEL/-

"_Heat shields going down at twenty five percent. Impact is in thirty two-fifty,"_ the voice announced above their heads. The Doctor and Kath returned from seeing Korwin and Abi with Ashton at their heels. Ashton was maybe the oldest one on crew, with a bald head and an old, dreary face. Jo hadn't seen Abi but she knew the woman was the doctor on board.

"Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan? " the Doctor asked through the speaker.

"He's under heavy sedation," she replied, "I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know." The Doctor nodded and pressed a different button.

"Martha, Riley, how're you doing?"

"Area twenty nine at door twenty eight!" she called back.

"You've got to move faster."

"We're doing our best!" she answered.

"_Find the next number in the sequence: 313, 331, 367…?_ What?" The Doctor and Josephine both looked up from the engine and towards the speaker.

"You said the crew knew all the answers," Martha said to Riley. The wheels were already spinning inside of Jo's head. She knew what the answer was.

"Crew just sets the questions," he admitted.

"You're joking." Josephine had sprinted across the room, towards the speakers. The Doctor was heading there himself but she beat him to it.

"379!" Jo spoke through.

"What?" Martha replied.

"It's a happy sequence, 379," Jo repeated.

"Happy what?"

"Just enter it!" the Doctor interrupted.

"Are you sure? We only get one chance," Riley reminded.

"Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of its square of it digits…" he explained, "….a number that is happy prime is both happy and prime, now type it in!" He turned to Jo, "Talk about dumbing down, don't they teach recreational mathematics anymore?"

"I know right?"

"We're through!" Martha exclaimed after a clicking noise resonated.

"Get through as quickly as you can," the Doctor said, "And Martha, be careful. There might be something else on board the ship."

"Anytime you want to unnerve me on this ship, feel free," she replied.

"Will do, thanks." He turned away from the speaker and went back to work. Josephine followed behind him and continued wiring things with Ashton and Erina. "Oh and you be careful too, Josephine. I actually have to get you home safely." Jo nodded but didn't look at him, too busy working. "Nice thinking by the way," he added.

"Yep, thanks."

"Do you do that a lot?"

"What? Think? Yes, very much in fact."

"No I meant-never mind," the Doctor turned back to his own work.

"_Impact in thirty fifty."_

"We need a backup in case the axillary doesn't work again in time. Come on think! Resources. What've we got?" the Doctor asked once putting down a heap of junk.

"Doctor?" Martha called.

"What is it now?"

"Who had the most number ones: Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-downloads."

"Uh, Elvis-NO! The Beatles-NO! Wait, um, um, ugh it's a remix. Uhh I don't know I'm a bit busy!"

"Fine, I'll ask someone else," she sassed.

"Now, where was I? Here comes the sun-no! Resources, so the pilaster's working, the generator is going, if we can harness that-ah ha!"

"Use the generator's job to jump start the ship?" Kath asked.

"Exactly! At the very least, it'll buy us more time."

"That is brilliant," she admitted.

"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope. Didn't think of that one did you Josephine Lewis?"

"I did, thirty seconds before you spoke it."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Don't like to be in charge."

The Doctor stared at Josephine. She had the idea, she had the knowledge and yet she hadn't spoken out her idea, she was…unusual, he thought.

"If it works," Orwin interrupted.

"Oh believe me, you're going to make it work," Kath ordered lightly.

"That told him!" the Doctor said with a smile.

"_Impact in twenty nine, forty six."_

-/JEL/-

"_Impact in twenty eight, fifty."_

"Doctor, these readings are starting to scare me," Abi said over the speakers.

"What do you mean?"

"Kowin's body is changing, his biological make up it's-it's impossible!" there was a moment for pause where the Doctor exchanged glances with both Josephine and Kath before Abi came back on and with an urgent voice said, "This is med center. Urgent assistance is requested. Urgent assistance!"

The Doctor's eyes widened before he turned around and sprinted out of the room, calling behind him, "Stay here, keep working!"

"Urgent assistance…"

"Abi, they're on their way," Erina replied. By then, Josephine and Kath had already left the room in pursuit of the Doctor. Josephine didn't know what compelled her to run after and help a woman she didn't know, but on some level she already realized what that reason was-she didn't like it when someone innocent was killed, or injured, or hurt by evil forces. She just…didn't like it, ever.

"What's happening to you?" Abi asked over the systems.

"Burn with me," a deep, demonic voice chanted, "burn with me."

"Captain!" the Doctor called when he realized they were behind him, "I told you to stay in engineering."

"I only take orders from one person here," she replied as he passed the Doctor. Kath and Jo followed him.

"Oh, is she always this cheery?" he muttered before spotting Jo, "What are you doing here? You actually take orders from me!"

"I am not a part of your crew Doctor, and even if I was, I still wouldn't take your orders!"

"So you don't take orders and you don't take charge, what the hell do you do?" he called as she went past him. She didn't reply, just continued finding her way to Abi.

"Burn with me."

"Korwin, you're sick," Abi protested.

"Burn. With. Me," Korwin replied in the deep voice. Something had happened because in the next moment, Abi was crying out in agony, screaming. The noise itself made Jo stiffen and then trip. The Doctor pulled her up, telling her to hurry up, but she twitched and flinched at the noise. It sounded so…familiar, the agonizing screams roaring into their ears like lions. But she hadn't heard those kinds of noises before. Not in her entire memory, so why was it familiar? Jo had no time to ponder these thoughts so she shoved them into the back of her mind for later, running towards the screaming.

"Doctor, what were those screams?" Martha asked over the comms.

"Concentrate on those doors, you got to keep moving forward!" he replied as he sprinted up the stairs.

"_Impact in twenty seven o' six_." They ran into the medical room, searching for Korwin and Abi.

"Korwin's gone," Kath announced in confusion.

"Oh my god," Orwin said. They all turned over to Orwin who was staring at one of the walls. There, against the red surface was the silhouette of a female's body with her hair in a bun. The Doctor approached the ashen wall. "Tell me that's not Lerner." The Doctor touched the material and rubbed it against his fingers.

He muttered something that sounded like 'vaporization' before turning back to them, "I've never seen one so ferocious. _Burn with me._"

"That's what we heard Korwin say."

"What? You think-no way. Scanell, tell him Korwin's not a killer. There's no way he could have vaporized her, he's human."

"Bio-scan results, internal temperature: one hundred degrees. Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, you're husband has been overwhelmed." Kath snatched the results out of his hands.

"The test results are wrong," she told him sternly. He stood up.

"What is it though? Parasite?"

"Mutagenic virus?" Jo suggested.

"Something that needs a host body," he declared, "But how did he get inside?"

"Stop talking about him like he's some kind of experiment!" Kath pleaded.

"Where's the ship been? Have you made planet fall recently?" They shook their heads. "Talk to any other vessels? Had any other external contact at all?"

"What? Is this an interrogation?"

"We can't let him kill again, we need to stop him, Kath," Jo told her.

"Were just, a cargo ship," she cried before turning around, rubbing her eyes.

"Doctor, Jo, just give her a minute," Orwin told them. He looked over at the captain in worriment.

"I'm fine," she told Orwin quietly. "I need to warn the crew." She went over to the speakers, "Everyone listen to me, something has infected Korwin. We think…he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go near him, is that clear?"

"Understood Captain," Riley replied.

"Erina, get back here with that equipment," Ashton ordered.

"_Impact in twenty four, fifty one_." The Doctor was examining transcripts.

"Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?" Kath asked. He put them down to look at Kath. Josephine already knew the answer. He was at a point of no return.

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me Doctor…Eleven years we've been married…Chose this ship together. He keeps me honest…so I don't want false hope."

"The parasite is too aggressive; your husband is gone, dead. There's no way back for him," Jo answered before the Doctor could. He looked over at her.

"Thank you," Kath whispered, looking away as the Doctor nodded.

"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret-because it's _vital_ that you tell me."

"I know every _inch_ of this ship. I know every _detail_ of my crew's lives. There is _nothing_."

"So why is this thing so interested in you?" Kath thought about it, shaking her head as she did.

"I wish I knew."

"Doctor, we're through area seventeen," Martha called.

"Got it, you got to get to area one to reboot those engines," he replied.

-/JEL/-

"_Heat shields failing at twenty percent_." They were still in the med center thinking through what was happening.

"Doctor! We're stuck in an escape pod in the area seventeen airlock. One of the crew is trying to eject us; you've got to help us!" Martha called out in a panic.

"Why is this happening?" Kath asked.

"Stay here, I mean it this time. Jump start those engines!" he called out when he started to sprint away. Josephine looked at them for a moment before starting her own sprint after him. Orwin grabbed her arm though.

"Don't!" he told her. Josephine looked down at the hand that was firmly holding onto her. Before any of them could react, she pulled her right hand (you know, the one with the really _hard metal_ on it) and punched him in the stomach. He let go of her immediately and she ran before Kath could grab her.

Jo was sprinting. She was sprinting like a wolf hunting for its prey. The Doctor was already in her sights and she was able to maneuver soft enough for him not to hear her. They were almost at area seventeen. "That's enough!" the Doctor shouted, Jo slowed down behind him. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me!"

Ashton growled before punching the system, making whatever code he punched in, fixed. That code was unfortunately the one that ejected the pod towards the sun.

"Come on, let's see you," the Doctor dared. Ashton stepped closer to him. His boots clicked on the floor like tap shoes. They were face to masked face, noses touching. "I want to see what you really are." The breath echoed in the room as Ashton reached up to the knob by the glass shield. He was about to twist it open when he jerked back, clutching his head and hissing 'no'. He groaned and stumbled back into the piping's hot fumes before standing right up again. He urgently pushed past the Doctor and Josephine ducked behind the door as Ashton retreated. The Doctor surged ahead towards to speakers. "McDonnel! Ashton is heading in your direction. He's infected, just like Korwin."

"Korwin's dead Doctor, sir," Orwin replied.

"_Airlock decompression completed. Jettison Pod is activated._" The Doctor looked up from the broken computer and into the window. Jo rushed forward to the computer, hooking her right hand's gadget as she did so. She tapped feverishly at the remains, trying to recreate the system in her mind as quickly as possible so she could find a way to stop the ejection.

"I'LL SAVE YOU!" he shouted through the glass window. Jo tapped faster, twitched her fingers twice as much, and calculated faster than she had ever done before. She cursed under her breath when she tapped her gadget in the wrong place and when she mentally recreated the wrong wire. "I'll save you," he promised, his voice breaking. The pod was leaving the ship. Josephine tried to do whatever she could but it began to leave faster than she could compete with. The Doctor mouthed those words to Martha again before it actually left the ship and another when she was gone. He stared off at her and Jo didn't need to think to know that those words weren't just a promise to her, but one for him. For a second Josephine thought they were a couple. Based on Martha's reactions to him, Martha certainly expressed feelings for him, but the Doctor didn't appear to return such affections in way Martha wanted him to.

"Do you care about her?" she wondered; he didn't hear her.


	7. Feelings I Haven't Felt In A Long Time

**Chapter Six: Feelings I Haven't Felt In A Long Time**

"_Impact in seventeen o' five."_

"Scanell! I need a space suit now."

"What for?"

"Just get down here!" the Doctor shouted. His eyes were blazing when he looked over at Josephine. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here? I told you to stay with the others!"

"And I told you that I don't take ORDERS!"

"So what do you do?"

"I solve problems in my head. I take in every detail and analyze it until I have the atoms counted! I don't take orders. I don't give orders. I sit on the side and I _watch the world burn_, Doctor. Don't rile me up or you _will_ see something vile. Something scarring that you _will_ run away and _never_ look back."

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"Oh shit, never mind Doctor. Just," Jo let out a sigh. She never explodes-never. Explosions are not her thing but dammit he just wants her to be dry, gasoline soaked twigs in a larger, dry, gasoline soaked forest and him be some kind of spark! "Just tell me what you're thinking so I can analyze it and tell you whether or not it'll work properly."

"We'll right now I'm think that the girl in front of me is completely-"

"_Without_ me in your thoughts."

"Well I am also thinking that Martha is going to-"

"And without Martha. Take out the distraction and focus on the facts at hand. Focus on the physics, the geometry, the chemistry, the science. Focus on something without feeling."

"Do you do that often?" he asked, visibly calming down.

"I don't know any other way, Doctor, now tell me your plan."

"I'm Gallifreyan."

"And I'm human; tell me something I don't know."

"Who told you that I'm-"

"Doctor! Focus," Josephine Erica Lewis ordered. The Doctor nodded at her tone.

"Right, so us Time Lords can withstand heat and cold very easily, so I'm going to put on that space suit when Scanell comes and go out into space and switch on the magnetic control to get the pod to come back." Josephine thought the plan over. There were obvious problems with it, but he had a ninety seven point thirty six chance he could survive.

"You have better odds of doing this than me. If you are willing to risk your life to save her, then don't let me stop your foolishness," she told him. The Doctor stared.

-/JEL/-

"I won't let you do this," Scanell told the Doctor as he put on his suit.

"You can't stop me," he replied heatedly.

"No one can survive that!" the man finished after explaining briefly that he'd die from the heat.

"Oh watch me."

"If you open that airlock its suicide," he reasoned. "At the distance we're at, the shields barely protect you. You'll die."

"If he reboots the magnetic lock on the exterior of the ship, then the pod will return to us," Jo explained.

"Now while I'm out there, I need you to get the rest of those doors open. We _need_ those axillary engines!" the Doctor ordered. Orwin shook his head.

"Doctor it's too late! There's not enough time!" The Doctor stared down at Orwin, giving him a promising glare.

"I'm not going to lose her," he promised, putting on his helmet and then walking away from them. Orwin and Jo watched as the Doctor entered the room the pod was once in.

"_Decompression initiated._"

"He's an idiot," Jo muttered, Orwin looked over at the girl.

"How so?"

"Stubbornness is definitely one of his biggest flaws, loyalty being the biggest." Orwin stared.

"_Impact in twelve fifty-five_."

-/JEL/-

"_Heat shields failing at ten percent."_ Jo watched in a somewhat solemn but intrigued way as the Doctor opened the door. She's surprised to see him not fall out into space immediately but instead maneuver himself so he could have a hold inside the ship while he did what he needed to do. Orwin had left moments ago, already starting on door openings. Jo would have left too but she and Orwin both agreed she would watch out for the Doctor.

Jo could see him struggling with himself, trying to press the buttons. Orwin and the Doctor were communicating through the speakers and the Doctor admitted that he wasn't sure if he was going to last. By then, Jo was pacing, new feelings were arising in her brain and it surprised her immensely. She was anxious, the pacing proved that along with the jittery sense of wanting to do something, anything to ease the feeling. The sound of the Doctor groaning loudly in effort of his plan made Jo stop her movements and stare back at where the Doctor was.

The Doctor came back into the ship, proving that he had completed his mission since the pod began to move back to the ship. He stopped though at the sight of the star. Josephine watched him too, in confusion, but realized what he was thinking when he whispered, "It's alive, it's alive. It's alive!"

"Doctor! Close that airlock now!" Orwin called on the system.

"_Impact in eight fifty-seven_."

-/JEL/-

"_Airlock recompression completed_." The doors opened and Jo found the Doctor crawling out from the doorway, grasping his body. He fell to the ground and Jo knew then that something had gone wrong.

"Ninety seven point thirty six chance my ass," Jo muttered, swooping down to the Doctor.

"Doctor! Doctor are you okay? What did you do?" Martha turned to Jo, voice accusing, "What's wrong Doctor?" They got the flailing man on his back and his eyes opened cracks, light filling the room. Jo knew then that he was infected.

"Stay away from me!" he gasped in a dark, menacing voice before closing his eyes again.

"What's happened?" Kath asked, running towards them.

"It's your fault Captain McDonnel!" the Doctor replied, he was struggling for control with his body.

"Riley, go help Scanell open the doors!" Kath ordered, Riley didn't move, "Go!" He sprinted before being told twice.

"You cheap fools!" the Doctor called out, "You should have scanned the surface for life before using it as fuel!"

"I don't understand."

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Jo's heart was racing, thumping in her ears. The situation was crashing into her reality, taking away the calmness she generally had on the inside. Her outer shields were stronger though, keeping her from having another Doctor induced explosion.

"That sun is alive!" he roared through pants, "It's a living organism, you took out its heart, used it as fuel, and now it's screaming!"

"How-what do you mean? How can the sun be alive? Why's he saying that?"

"Because it's living in me," he replied, Kath sucked in a breath. Martha backed away from the Doctor. Jo stood still, no reaction coming from her as she watched the man attempt to control the beast, to try and survive. "_Humans_, you grab whatever's nearest and you bleed it dry! YOU SHOULD HAVE SCANNED!"

"It takes forever to scan and fusion scoops are illegal," Kath tried to explain, the Doctor cried out in pain. Martha lunged towards the man, Jo held her back to some degree.

"You have to freeze me quickly!"

"What?" Martha asked, panic evident in her eyes.

"Stasis chamber, take me there, below minus two hundred…ah...it will use me to kill you if you don't-the closer we get to the sun, the stronger it gets-ah! Chambers! Quickly!" he groaned, panting and wheezing as Martha held onto the sick, sick boy.

"Help me!" Martha shrieked when neither Kath nor Jo moved. Kath shook her head a quarter of an inch before nodding and grabbing the Doctor by his arm, Jo had already fled to get to the medical room and start up the machine.

"_Impact in seven thirty_."

-/JEL/-

He was wailing when Kath and Martha entered the room. Martha ran to the manual that was beside Jo and began flipping through the pages. Jo had already read it to understand the machine. "Martha where are you?" the Doctor called, blinded by his closed eyes.

"I'm here, the stasis chamber is loading up. Going to two hundred yeah?"

"No! That degree would kill him! No one can survive such temperatures!" Kath argued as Martha pushed the Doctor inside the chambers.

"He's not human, he says he can survive then he can," Martha explained.

"Then…let me help you then," Katha replied, pulling at the Doctor.

"You've done enough damage," Martha deadpanned. Jo stopped for a moment to look at Kath's defeated face, before returning to the control system.

"Ten seconds…that's how long I'll be able to take, not that long-ah! Ah! AH!" the Doctor muttered, now immersed to pain. "Ah-Martha!"

"Yeah?"

"It's burning me up, I can't control it. If I can't get rid of it I can kill you," his voice got darker, "I could kill you all-aaAAAahhHH-I'm scared, I'm so scared."

"Just stay calm," Martha tried to sooth. "You saved me, so now I return the favor, just believe in me."

"Ah! It's burning through me! Ah, ah-"

"That's enough! I got you," she calmly whispered.

"There's this process, that I go through-this thing happens if I'm about to die."

"Shh, shh, go head right now cause that's not going to happen, you ready?"

"No!" Martha frowned, turning to Jo, who had already started the process of putting him inside. His body slid back into the machine, the cooling system working as fast as possible, the Doctor's screams echoed in Jo's ear, somewhat familiar but haunting none the less.

"_Heat shields failing at five percent_."

-/JEL/-

They were almost done the process when it stopped. The Doctor was covered in ice, but his screams were still voiced. "No! Martha, I told you not to stop, not yet!"

"What's happened?" Martha questioned Jo, she was still attempting to turn the machine back on. The Doctor was right; he needed to be cooled down some more.

"Power's been cut in engineering," Kath explained.

"But who's down there?" Martha asked, anxious to save the Doctor.

"Leave it to me," she whispered before turning away and running out of the room. Martha looked back at the Doctor when he groaned out in frustration and in pain. That was when Martha noticed Jo missing.

"Josephine?" Martha called, looking around the bay.

"_Impact in four forty-seven_."

-/JEL/-

"_Impact in three forty three_."

"Riley, Scanell, I'm sorry," Kath called on the communications network. Jo was reaching Riley and Orwin herself when she heard the announcement. Seconds later, she heard,

"_Exterior airlock opened_." That was the moment when Josephine Erica Lewis sprinted for her life, moving through halls as quickly as possible and allowing for the first time, the adrenaline to run through her veins, the first time she needed the will to move faster and faster.

"_Impact in two seventeen_." That was the moment she found the two boys, in the process of unlocking the last door.

"_Survival chance projection readings at zero percent_." That was the moment when Jo kicked one of the walls in frustration at the slowness that they were operating at. That was the moment when her frustration bled through for the first time since she was eight.

"Martha," the Doctor called on the systems.

"Doctor!" she replied. "What're you doing?"

"I can't fight it," he sounded defeated. And then his voice changed, "Burn with me, burn with me, Martha."

"_Impact in one twenty-one_." That was when she heard his scream. That was when the last door opened.

"Got it!" Riley called out.

"_Life support systems reaching critical. Repeat, life support systems reaching critical_." Her heart pounded in her ears, making her focus only on the overwhelming sense of doom that made her human for the first time in years. Riley and Orwin entered the room, whisking themselves around, trying to figure out their approach on the matter. Jo headed straight for the control unit and began analyzing each detail as fast as possible.

"_Impact in one o' six_." Orwin pressed nobs and turned screws.

"_Collision alert, collision alert."_

"It's not working!" Riley shouted in frustration, the other man stared at him in defeat. Josephine subconsciously registered an entered Martha as she continued to mess with the wires.

"Vent the engines, drop the fuel," she ordered. Jo looked up at the idea, seeing the logic immediately. Orwin and Riley looked at her like she was crazy though.

"Sun particles in the fuel, get rid of it. Do it. Now!" she shouted, snapping them back to reality. Jo, Riley, and Orwin all began to turn the knobs and wheels around the room. "Come on Doctor, hold on," she muttered to herself. There was a rising noise but Jo hardly registered it when Orwin was thrown away from the nobs.

"_Fuel dumping, fuel dumping_."

Jo could already feel the fuel dumping from the machine as the boys continued to turn their wheels and she pressed buttons. The Doctor's screaming quieted down, the ship had begun its start up once again.

"Fuel engines are firing," Orwin announced, as the ship turned.

"_Impact averted, impact averted_." Sighs of relief echoed in the room as they got up and restated their success. Orwin and Riley embraced each other at the prospect of living another second, minute, hour, day for the moment to come.

"Doctor," Martha whispered before running off, leaving the three in the room, leaving two in the room as Jo left. She already knew there was no one to hug, that no one would wish her a job well done or laugh with one another. She turned away from both hugging parties, almost molding into the wall as she hugged herself. She realized now, after the success of the mission why she never felt such emotions she did today before.

It was because she already knew what loneliness was to come in the end, after suffering it for years, she already knew that after one taste she would be addicted and then she would be sober again, facing the cold reality that was hidden for just moments before.

It was because she was alone in the end.

-/JEL/-

"Tell me this is not your ship," Orwin said in disbelief after seeing the TARDIS.

"Compact eh? Another good word: robust," the Doctor replied after touching his prized possession, "Barely a scratch mark on her."

"We can't just leave them behind with no fuel," Martha opposed.

"We've sent out an official mayday, the authorities will pick us up soon enough," Riley explained, leaning against some pipes. Orwin glanced over at the other man.

"Don't know how'll explain to them what happened-"

"Just tell them," the Doctor answered, "That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing." Orwin nodded and the Doctor entered the TARDIS. Martha could hear Martha being pulled back by Riley so she left them to talk.

Josephine stared up at the man in front of her. "So you're holding back on us Josephine Lewis?" the man in the blue suit asked, it was the same suit they had first met in.

"No Doctor, I am not. What I meant to say was that I was nearly holding up a façade of some sort, it broke down long before I hoped it would."

"Now what façade would that be?" he inquired, a slightly amusing tone in his voice as his curiosity grew.

"That I deserve emotions, that humanity reaches me." He stared at her.

"Why do you say that?"

"Look at me Doctor," she replied, her dilated eyes shrinking fast, "Look at my reactions in my lifetime and you should be able to see where the humanity stops in me. Knowledge only goes so far Doctor, even I know that. Tell me what do you define as human? Tell me if those people from a year ago who were turned into metal machines were human? Are they?"

"No, they were stripped of their humanity."

"In what way," she asked her voice cracking but firm in the sense that he needed to realize that there was no woman in front of him, that she was not what they thought her to be.

"They were stripped of their emotions Josephine; they were devoid of feelings, why have we turned to this subject?"

"I'll let you compare myself to them; I need to look at something in the medical bay." Jo left the room as she heard Martha re-enter. The brown eyes stared at the retreating girl in confusion for a brief moment, then realization, and then he grew solemn.

-/JEL/-

Josephine had just left the room but she never went to the medical bay. Instead, she unlatched all of her latches and flung them at the TARDIS's walls, screaming at the top of her lungs, kicking at the pillars, and punching the wall until her knuckles bled. She was just so…_angry_. She had never been angry, she couldn't be angry-she was just an emotionless calculator! She cursed louder and many profanities towards the Doctor.

"Why the hell did I say that to him!" she shouted. The TARDIS hummed at her, clearly annoyed with the destruction of her walls. Jo didn't care, instead she screamed louder until her voice cracked and she slumped down to the ground. Hot, salty water ran down her cheeks and she growled in annoyance.

"Why the hell did I come on this trip? I knew I was going to be addicted, I knew I was going to hurt in the end, but why the hell did I still go? Why the hell does the Doctor get the power to reel in anyone to his ship-from the strong to the weak to the smart to the dumb to the good and to the evil? Why?"

_Let him show you why, see why he has had so many companions, watch him share the mysteries of this universe._

It was a serene voice that spoke in her mind. Something calming, something with a light buzz, a voice she had never heard aloud before. This voice held knowledge, power, and wisdom, the voice new to the broken girl.

"Why should I do that?" the girl asked, the tears starting to stop.

_Because you can fix each other._

Josephine Erica Lewis stared at the wall in front of her, allowing her brain to rethink and analyze every word echoing in her mind. The knives thrown at the coral print flew back at her, sliding across the floor to her limp fingertips. Her right hand's fingers twitched, a movement not attempted in years. She stared in shock as the finger lightly pulled the sharp edge closer to her.

The girl stood up when she had all three in her latches; she smiled fondly at the TARDIS around her. Wiping her now dry tears on her sleeves, she turned back to the door she left in and turned it open. The Doctor and Martha were talking quietly, almost calming the other. The Doctor's brown eyes latched onto Jo's dilated ones for a moment before turning back to Martha. When the darker skinned woman realized she was in the room, she turned around in shock and embarrassment.

"Josephine!" she called out surprised. "I totally forgot-"

"Right, we should take her back home," the Doctor interrupted, not looking at Jo. Martha elbowed him harshly.

"How about another trip? She only got to see the dangerous side of the journey; we should show her something new and amazing-right Doctor?" Martha stated, smiling and not exactly phrasing it as a question, more like an order.

"Well, I'm not sure if she'll want to-"

"I would love to," Jo stopped him, flashing a small smile, "It would be good to see something new for once." Martha smiled happily, the Doctor frowned slightly.

"You sure? We might end up in another situation," the Doctor warned.

"Then you can keep taking me to places until I haven't almost died on a planet." Martha's smiled grew wider, the Doctor's frown grew too. His eyes narrowed.

"Positive?"

"I mean, unless you are trying to hint that you don't want me here by the continuation of these questions, then yes. But if you don't want me here, please don't spare my _feelings_ Doctor," she told him, his eyes flashed before hardening. They stared at each other for another moment, almost like they were challenging each other.

"Fine," he replied stiffly.

"Doctor, can we put hold on the trip for a few hours, I am sure that not only me, but Jo too is tired. Could we postpone till the morning?" The Doctor almost glared at Martha.

"Sure, sure, I'll just go show Josephine where her room is," he replied. Martha smiled, before hugging him tightly. Her phone rang and she let go of him.

"I got to take this," she told him before answering the call. The Doctor nodded before walking over to the girl in the leather jacket. They exited the room and into the hall.

-/JEL/-

They were quiet the entire time, not looking or glancing at each other as the Doctor led her down the halls and to a room with a plain white door. "Well here we are," he spoke, leaning against the wall beside the door. He crossed his arms, staring down at the girl in somewhat interest. "_Cyberwoman_," he mocked.

"Yes well there are only few differences in our nature," she replied, opening the door. The Doctor reached out for her arm, stopping her from entering the room.

"You are _not_ one of them," he almost growled. "Those things are emotionless droids hell-bent on turning others into them; monsters. You are not a monster Josephine Lewis." She smiled wistfully at him.

"What makes you think I'm not a monster?" she asked. His brown eyes stared down at the shrinking eyes. Purple rimmed the pupils.

"Your screams in the night," he told her softly. Her smiled stopped, replaced by a frown and then a glare.

"You know nothing."

"Neither do you," he countered. She ripped herself from him and moved inside the room. It was what was expected, completely white room with a bookshelf filled with varying titles and a long line of markers. She smirked at the work desk that would no doubt hold materials for her engineering. "Homey," he announced, looking at the harsh room.

"Yes well, I need the walls to write."

"Write?"

"The formulas, the diagrams, the blue prints," she explained.

"So you really did design that thing," the Doctor asked, looking at her hand. She held it up, his smile of curiosity turned into a frown.

"Yeah, I made it when I was in my early teens," Jo replied.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Car accident, my parents and-"

"No, I mean why is it bleeding?" he corrected, moving towards her and taking her hand into his own.

"Oh that, well a wall and my knuckles really wanted to connect with each other," Josephine explained, somewhat amused.

"For a person who thought they were emotionless, you really know how to feel anger. I'd take that to the medical center-what were you doing in there anyway?"

"Stabbing myself," she deadpanned. He stared at her. "Joking, anyway I'm not surprised I didn't feel the injury, there's a reason I have this on my hand."

"Ah yes, the paralysis." Jo nodded. He looked at her hand once more, examining the knuckles before looking at her left hand, "And the other?"

"Stubbornness," Jo replied, making the Doctor bark in laughter. He let go of her hands and turned to walk away, turning back to look at her when he reached her door.

"Get some sleep Josephine Lewis, you have a big day tomorrow," he told her. The lips of Josephine Erica Lewis twitched slightly.

Then he left.

And then she didn't sleep a wink.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh my god, thank you, Unknown Girl, totally just saved the story. You rock! Thanks for telling me! Had no idea what happened! *face palms self***


	8. Painful Reminders

**Chapter Seven: Painful Reminders**

Three planets. That is the number of places they visited before Josephine found herself a normal 'vacation'. That fourth planet would become problematic for the future, but Martha enjoyed the company of Jo. Even though the girl was cold most of the time and pure logic, she could see why so many people found her interesting. But Martha could see that she was not emotionless. She tried to deny it subtly, but even the Doctor noticed that her choices took longer to decide because of two conflicting _emotions_.

The first planet was amazing. Pink waterfalls that tasted like honey cascaded down the mountainous regions and into the river below. It was beautiful, magnificent, and glorious. Unfortunately after drinking from the waterfall, they had to run for their lives from knife wielding monks that didn't want them drinking their holy water. After the Doctor convinced them to lower their weapons, Jo unfortunately challenged their beliefs. The Doctor, Jo, and Martha were all running for the TARDIS with the blades of swords nearly piercing their skin.

The second planet was much more chaotic than the first. From the moment they stepped out of the TARDIS, they were ambushed. Since they decided on doing randomly generated spots for them to 'relax' in, it didn't take long for Jo to realize that the TARDIS was prolonging Josephine's departure. Another question that had filtered into the Doctor's mind was one relating to the TARDIS's connection and relationship with one Miss Josephine Erica Lewis.

Anyhow, since the planet was random, none of them were expecting to find themselves trapped in a full out planetary war. Two species fighting over one thing: a pineapple. Then again, it was the last pineapple and was the most important thing in the world for both sides. One side needed it to sacrifice to their gods, the other could only survive on pineapples. Unfortunately, the Doctor, Martha, and Jo were all separated between one another, the Doctor being stuck on one side, Martha and Jo on the other. Eventually, by using sheer logic (as that's the only thing she can do) Jo compromised by splitting the pineapple into half, making sure the seeds were able to be planted and grown and then given to both sides. The Doctor and Martha got some pineapple too.

Jo became a god that day.

At the third planet, the Doctor was kidnapped by a race called the Shunedones, a race of humanoid beings that were grown from the muddy ground of their planet Shuniade. Their reason being that the Doctor destroyed one of their only non-organic relic two decades ago and that they wouldn't return him until their most important statue was restored. The Doctor had no recollection of even destroying it and stated that he hadn't done it…yet. So, Martha and Jo joined up in search for the Doctor, almost dying a few times and Jo got stabbed (except she didn't even realize it until back onto the TARDIS when the Doctor pointed out that her shirt was soaked a dark red) and somehow becoming _friends_? Martha and Jo understood each other, since both knew and understood medicine and Martha read at least one or two books by Jo. After a long negotiation of the Doctor's release and a lot of mending of a statue, they found themselves back on their transport. By then, the Doctor knew where to go.

Finding one of the smallest planets in one of the galaxies, the Doctor landed them on the dead, dark, and cold planet of Jubieya. It wasn't a habitable planet at all but the sight was amazing. For the first time in all of Jo's life, that she could remember, she was stricken with awe and wonder and amazement all at the same time. Beautiful colors lit up space and the swirls of color and vastness of the dark desert strung before her made Jo watch and drink in everything she saw, ingraining it into her memory. She was speechless, she was amazed, she was surprised that anything could ever be so perfect when so surreal, something she had never found the beauty of until the deaths of her parents.

It made her want to paint.

Feeling that need to get out her old paintbrushes and let something flow out of her that wasn't knowledge hardened her with stone and steel around her heart. She couldn't paint again, she _couldn't_, and seeing something so magnificent was heart wrenching and painful. Having never felt such raw emotion and conflicting emotions and emotions at _all_ forced Josephine Erica Lewis to run away to her room, tears silently streaming down her face. Martha almost cried having somewhat of an idea of what was happening in her head.

The Doctor was confused.

-/JEL/-

Josephine woke up to a large jolt shaking the floor boards. Quickly, she changed into her long pajama pants and sleeved shirt. Throwing up her dark brown hair into a ponytail, she looked around. Dark blue splatters of paint and mellow green scattered across her walls, dripping onto the floors and covering up the equations she had written down. It was the only color to the room really.

Swiftly exciting the room, Jo ran as fast as her legs could take her down the halls. Another jolt in the TARDIS had her crashing into the walls and sparks flying everywhere, lights flickering as well.

Jo couldn't stifle the gasp when she found what she was looking for.

There in the center of the room, was the Doctor grasping onto his head, crying out in pain with a machine on his head. One that looked very similar to the one she used on herself to surgically remove a tumor from her brain. An experience that never gave her pain-but seeing him…crying out…her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body crashed to the ground, and sweet darkness voiding her mind.


	9. 1913: The Diary of A Lady

**Chapter Eight: 1913: The Diary of a Lady**

**NOTE: This chapter is mostly in first person due to the diary-esc of it.**

_Day fifty-seven:_

I woke up again, dreaming of the days before. In eight weeks, I will turn twenty-two. I still don't know what happened to me, all those years ago or what had happened before, but I remember the dark fog, waiting to be lifted every moment since I woke up. I remember less than two months ago, the day after I had a panic attack over color, the day the Doctor became human, the week later when I came to the school and helped the matron.

I could see Martha, watching the Doctor with eyes bleached with…love? I do not know, I would not know, I am not her, and I would never understand it.

Today I helped the Matron stitch up the Doctor, or John Smith as he is called now days. Martha used to take me to the TARDIS out in the woods, she told me the Doctor left me a message and that she didn't watch it, but I'm not sure if I want to. I've only known the Doctor for maybe a total of three months, majority of said time spent watching John Smith. I don't know how I feel about seeing John Smith, he's not an alien, not an idiotic genius, not a man who can travel through time and space.

He isn't the man who brought me home.

_Day fifty-eight:_

Martha literally dragged me out to the cabin, the Matron glaring at her as I frowned in confusion. "I just can't handle it anymore! I want to know what's on your note and I want to talk to you because you seem _really_ nice and I aint have anybody to _really_ talk to about all of this so let's get to the TARDIS and then watch the Doctor and then got to our rooms because I am just _dying_ to be in me bed again."

"Okay."

"You know, you never did tell me why you passed out on the floor that day," Martha inquired, opening up the doors of the blue box.

"The machine itself reminded me of the one I built."

"The machine that damaged the nerves in your brain and got your tumor out?"

"Yeah, that one, well it was just…seeing that again and then having to see something that reminded me of it making another person go through that-it just made me realize how cruel and inhumane it was and-"

"Hey," Martha interrupted, seeing the tears in my eyes, "You did what you had to do, if you didn't, I would have never met you."

"Yes well, the only reason you ever heard of me was because your teacher found my experimentation ingenious, bizarre, and original. Some of the people I met later on, news reporters, they thought it was all a publicity stunt, like my kidnapping and the amnesia."

"That's just-that's just awful Jo."

"Yeah well, I hope to never cross paths with the press again—until my death."

"Why would you say that?" Martha exclaimed as turned on the screens and computers.

"It's a terrible goal but anything important I do now will either be blown out of proportions or will be demolished into smithereens. My death couldn't be made into anything but cold hard facts, unless its suicide."

"Cold hard facts?"

"I'm supposed to be an emotionless genius who doesn't understand the concepts of anything besides logic."

"Supposed?" she asked, turning to face me.

"Let's talk about it later," I replied, turning to the screens. "Let us see the video." Soon the Doctor's face came on the screen.

"Right so, if you are watching this Josephine Erica Lewis, that means I used the arc. I only do this whenever I have a feeling someone's going to become my new companion. Well, if you wanted to, you can, but umm…so I just figured since you've been on more trips than Martha before she became my companion, I figured I should make you one and I wouldn't have a problem with you because you're…you know, Josephine Erica Lewis-still haven't looked you up yet…not really.

"Anyway, so I'm just going to tell you the basics because Martha's going to be watching over me more carefully. So first, I need you to stay low, don't do anything too smart because we all know you're a genius but please don't act like one while we're in a time period where women aren't seen as intelligent. Second, try to blend in with whoever you end up working with, I need you to be knowledgeable of those around you. Thirdly, make sure Martha and I don't get into too much trouble. And finally, whatever you do, don't let me push you away. Make sure you and Martha are always near to me. And thank you Josephine. Although time can be rewritten, there are some things in your life that I know you have to fulfill. From what I've heard, you still need to build something amazing-you'll see. Oh! And no brooding! Don't deny it Josephine, it was essentially noticed when I met-met you I guess, when did we really meet? Hmm…was it…-no, anyway, good luck, thanks, bye!"

I turned to Martha, trying to understand his words. "Can we go back? I need to talk to him."

"What? He won't understand what you're talking about!"

"It…doesn't matter, I just need to…see him? That sounds weird, I don't mean it like that-I know that you and-"

"Oh my god, am I that obvious?" she exclaimed in worry, dragging her hands down her face in mock agony.

"No! No, don't take it like that. I'm really good at seeing things I think, it's hard to say because I've only ever been able to draw conclusions on how people feel with others based on my interactions with Jack and Will and Yolanda and…and, well, you."

"Jack? Do you have someone you aren't telling us about?" I stared at Martha like she was insane.

"Jack and I? Do you mean how I think you mean? Because that's just…no."

"Eww! Is he your brother?"

"No! God no, he's just…Jack. He helped me get back on my feet, we're just friends, he even likes someone else-another man too!"

"Okay! Good to know." Martha replied nodding before realizing something, "He could be bi-"

"He's not! I mean he is but he doesn't like me that way and I'm probably the most asexual person in the universe-why am I even talking to you about this?"

"You're right, let's go back."

"Yeah."

-/JEL/-

Martha was next to me as I opened the door, catching the Doctor-no, John Smith and Matron kissing. For some reason, probably from the shock and surprise, my heart stopped at the sight. At the strange and odd and-and…and just incorrect sight! That shouldn't have happened.

"Martha what have I told you about entering unannounced?!" John shouted, stopping short when he saw it was me, "Oh, Nurse Lewis so sorry-I didn't...I mean." Martha, who was behind me, pivoted and left in a hurry. I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at John and Matron like a gaping fish.

"Josephine, that was highly rude and what are you doing here?" Matron asked, sternly and almost harshly.

"I-Never mind Matron, I'll find the bandages myself," I recovered quickly before briskly turning around and running out of the door. Martha was already gone, no doubt already heading back to the TARDIS.

Her heart was probably breaking.

-/JEL/-

When I found Martha she was still sad but also a bit panicked. "What's wrong Martha?"

"I'm worried about the Doctor, so I had this idea yeah? And I was wondering if you wouldn't mind so terribly going to the dance and watching over them?" her voice was very pleading, her brown eyes round and big, and her hands held together like a prayer. I'd never been pleaded like this before except for by Yolanda and Will and Jack and Ianto and practically everyone in Torchwood, never been pleaded to by an outsider of my 'family'.

_But she's a friend and friends help each other and are kind and do favors._

"Okay, just, um, we need to find me a dress back at the TARDIS. I hear there's a whole closet?"

-/JEL/-

I was wearing a dress. I haven't worn a dress in years-well I wore one to the Lazarus thing but I haven't worn one so…so _provocative_! Or beautiful or just plain elegant. It was long and slim and white with lace everywhere and lace for sleeves. Somehow it was the only dress I could find-but its back was _cut out_! I wore shorts underneath, in case of an emergency and attached a knife to my thigh because I took off the device on my hand, like I was forced to for the last two months.

But a dress! A very, very _provocative_ dress! I think-I think the TARDIS is messing with me!

-/JEL/-

"Please take your partners for a waltz!" The announcer spoke before the music began. People were still giving me looks.

_Must be the cutout of my back._

But I didn't comment or return any glare, I just stood there, watching John Smith and Matron dance together, sipping my drink slowly and looking 'pretty' with my hair all done up and light make-up and some jewelry. And Einstein, I felt like the most god damn beautiful thing here-which was of course stupid since there's no way I was and I didn't even like being considered beautiful because I don't like the idea and the lies behind it. But I guess I felt that way since _all_ of the men were giving me looks from time to time. If Jack taught me correctly than their eyes were filled with lust.

When the Doctor made a trip to get some drinks, I made my move to go and attempt talking with him. Looking around, I spotted Martha heading for Matron. "So," I started, sliding up to him, "You and Matron?"

"Yes well, Joan has been very kind and is a lovely women, now if you'll excuse me-"

"Wait!" I said, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"Yes?" he asked, getting a bit annoyed. Think, think, think, what to say, what to say, think, think, thi-

"I heard you have a magnificent fob watch," I started, images of him changing flashing through my mind, "I was wondering if I could take a look at it? I've always had a fascination for them and I was going to ask earlier but you were rather occupied and I didn't want to interrupt."

"Weren't you there for bandages? And, um, come by tomorrow," he moved to leave, but I pulled him back again.

"It's just, um, I'm leaving tomorrow and I don't know if I'll be able to see you so I was wondering if after the party, I could take a look?" John Smith got really uncomfortable at the proposition and pink filled his cheeks. It took me a moment to realize what it sounded like, hearing Jack's voice filter in my mind, "Oh! No! I didn't mean it like that! I just really like watches-and I should be going, um, look! My friend!" I excused quickly before practically running to Martha.

"Oh, now, really, Martha. This is getting out of hand. I must insist that you leave," John Smith told her. I reached the table, Matron giving me both a disapproving look at my appearance with Martha and a stunned stare at my attire.

"Do you know what this is?" Martha asked, holding up the Sonic Screwdriver I came to admire over time. "Name it. Go on, name it."

"John, what is that silly thing? John?" Matron asked. Both Martha and I nodded towards it as he picked it up slowly.

"You're not John Smith," Martha started.

"You're called the Doctor," I added. He looked startled at my input and appearance, pink dusting his cheeks again.

"The man in your journal, he's real. He's you," Martha continued. Just then a coat rack was dropped, a noise becoming a disturbance.

"THERE…WILL…BE…SILENCE!" a plump man in a brown suit and mustache shouted out as Baines and Jenny followed behind, guns in their hands. "ALL OF YOU! I SAID SILENCE!"

"Mr. Clark! What's going on!?" the announcer asked. Wordlessly, Mr. Clark turned around and shot the man with the gun, vaporizing him to dust. Jo's heartbeat sped up for two unfortunate reasons, one was the sense of danger coming, the other for the excitement of a new piece of alien technology that she's witnessed. People began screaming.

"Mr. Smith, everything I told you, just forget it," Martha urged.

"Don't say anything," I hissed as the other man shouted again,

"We asked for silence! Now then," his voice getting softer, "We have a few questions for Mr. Smith."

"No," a little girl with a red balloon interjected, "better than that. The teacher-he's the Doctor. I heard them talking."

"You took human form," Baines mocked John Smith, realization dawning him.

"Of course I'm human. I was a born human, as were you, Baines. And Jenny, and you, Mr. Clark! What is going on? This is madness!" John shouted.

"Ooh, and a human brain, too-simple, thick, and dull," he continued.

"But he's no good like this," Jenny commented, her voice darker than usual.

"We need a Time Lord," Mr. Clark added. Baines hummed in agreement.

"Easily done," Baines stepped forward, pointing his gun at them, the crowd gasping at the sight. "Change back."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered quickly.

"Change BACK!" his face contorting in anger.

"I-I literally do not know!"

"Aah! Get off me!" Martha shouted as Jenny grabbed her and pointed the gun at her head.

"She's your friend, isn't she?" Jenny goaded. My heart was speeding up, they had Martha, they had Martha, they had my friend, and they had someone I cared for! I was itching to pull out my knife. To just…STRANGLE AND CUT AND-what? Panic and adrenaline coursed through my veins. Oh god, oh god, oh god, I've never had the need to do that. I made a move to go, but John just grabbed my arm; I looked back at him.

"She's your friend, isn't she? Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?" Jenny shouted.

"I don't know what you mean!"

"Wait a minute, the maid told me about Smith and the Matron, that women there!"

"Then let's have you!" Mr. Clark replied, grabbing the Matron.

"Have you enjoyed it, Doctor, being human?" Baines questioned, "Has it taught you wonderful things? Are you better, richer, wiser, hmm? Then let's see you answer this-which one of them do you want us to kill? Maid or Matron? Your friend or your lover?" John looked at Joan, Martha, and back to me.

"Your choice." I looked back at the Doctor, heart beating frantically. I searched his eyes.


	10. Soft Smiles

**Chapter Nine: Soft Smiles**

"Make your decision, Mr. Smith."

"Perhaps if that human heart breaks, the Time Lord will emerge," one of them contemplated. A click was heard before Mr. Clark, Baines, the little girl, Jenny, and Josephine turned towards the whisper of,

"_Time Lord_." The trackers sniffed.

"It's him!" Baines's gasped before Martha shouted and maneuvered herself and got the gun from Jenny, holding it up to the maid's head, a click sharp in everyone's ears.

"All right! One more move, and I shoot," she threatened.

"Oh, the maid is full of fire!"

"And you can shut up!" she shouted back before shooting the gun at the ceiling.

"Careful, son of mine. This is all for you so that you can live forever," Mr. Clark reminded.

"Shoot you down."

"Try it. We'll die together."

"Martha," Jo hissed, looking at her friend worriedly.

"Would you really pull the trigger?" he asked, never taking his eyes of Martha. "Looks too scared."

"Scared and holding a gun is a good combination. Do you want to risk it?" Martha replied, an edge to her voice. Jo looked between the two, unsure of what would happen. After a moment of silence, they lowered their guns and Matron ran book to the Doctor. "Doctor, get everyone out. There's a door at the side. It's over there. Go on! Do it Mr. Smith. I mean you!"

"Do what she said. Everybody out-now!" Matron followed, moving to help. "Don't argue Mr. Jackson. They're mad. That's all we need to know."

"Go!" Jo added pushing people out as well.

"Susan, Miss Cooper, outside! All of you!"

"Alright, come on. Move yourself, boy," John Smith snapped, finally coming to attention. "Back to the school, quickly!"

"And you. Go on, just shift."

"What about you?" The human with the Doctor's face asked. Josephine began to tear at her dress, pulling out the blade underneath until she had just a shirt.

"Mr. Smith, I think you should escort your lady friend to safety, don't you?" Martha replied. The human hesitated for a moment before nodding and running off, only giving a glance to Josephine as he left.

"And what about me, Martha? What about you?"

"I'll be fine, go watch the Doctor. Protect him, don't let him out of your sights." Josephine nodded, running out of the room before coming back.

"Okay, be safe, I'll see you soon!" Before running again.

-/JEL/-

When she got out, she found Mr. Smith holding Tim, a boy she had come to know due to his frequent visits for bruising salve. "Latimer, get back to the school. Tell the headmaster."

"Don't touch me! You're as bad as them!" he shouted before running off.

"Tim!" Jo called from next to John. Before running after him herself, distant calls of John and Joan from behind her.

-/JEL/-

_A young boy with blonde hair and dripping eyes came into their infirmary one day. Matron wasn't there so Josephine was left to care for the boy. She didn't mind. So, she pulled him into the room and sat him on one of the beds, reaching for a basin and a cloth. The boy only stared as she inspected the wound on his knees, blood creeping out, staining his trousers. Jo tsked, grabbing some needle and thread as well to sow his pants back together. "How did this happen?" she asked, wanting to hear his confirmation. She could already tell he was pushed, not tripped._

"_I fell down some stairs."_

_She looked up into his brown eyes. They were shades off from being chocolate, no they were brown like the burnt up wood from a fire, soft embers still flickering in and out from existence. "I know you're lying."_

-/JEL/-

Josephine walked into the school, searching for Tim with the softest steps she could take. She cared for that boy, a little unsure why though. When she was young, she was picked on for her intelligence, for her vastness of knowledge. She could see some of herself in him.

"_Hold me. Keep me safe. Keep me dark. Keep me closed_." She heard, filtering in her brain, each word drawing her closer and closer to Tim, to the watch, to the Doctor. "_The time is not right. Not yet, not while the family is abroad-Danger!-DANGER!_" But…but she couldn't find him. It was too dark, there was noise everywhere, and shadows loomed like real people. She couldn't find him! Not in the dark! No in the-she spotted him, sitting on the ground, examining the watch. She was about to shout out for him, but a crowd of boys blocked her path and another boy got to him first, calling him a coward, and dragging him away.

-/JEL/-

"_Mr. Latimer," Josephine huffed when she found the boy standing in the infirmary, "what did you do this time?"_

_Tim sighed and sat on one of the beds, tucking his knees under his chin. "Suzanne Wilkes came by today to see her father, Mister Wilkes, and he told her she could stay for one of the classes. She decided to sit down next to me and she kept pestering! She wanted to talk and I, of course, couldn't do that during a lesson. And then a bunch of the boys got angry that Suzanne sat next to me. They think she's very pretty."_

"_And you?" Jo asked, dabbing the cut on his cheek. "What do you think of Miss Wilkes?"_

"_I," Tim coughed, looking away. Jo tilted his head back to her; he looked down. "I think she is a very pretty girl."_

_Jo smirked, "Well, don't do anything too sudden, some girls scurry away easily." Tim glanced up at the nurse, nodding._

"_Sure, sure, of course."_

-/JEL/-

Josephine returned to Mr. Smith's room where Martha was. "I know it sounds mad, but when the Doctor became human, he took the alien part of himself and he stored it inside the watch. I mean, it's not really a watch. It just looks like a watch."

"And 'alien' means 'not from abroad' I take it," Matron guessed.

"No," Jo replied, making herself known.

"The man you call John Smith, he was born on another world," Martha expanded.

"A different species?" Josephine and Martha nodded, "Then tell me, in this fairy tale…who are you? Who are the both of you?"

"Just a friend. I'm not-I mean, you haven't got a rival, as much as I might…Just his friend." Matron looked at her fellow nurse.

"You could say friend, more like acquaintance-"

"Pshh, totally friends, trust me, Jo," Martha reassured. Josephine held eyes with Martha before nodding, going back to the subject at hand.

"And human, I take it?"

"Human. We're both humans. Don't worry. And more than that-I don't just follow him around. I'm training to be a doctor. Not an alien Doctor. A proper doctor, a doctor of medicine," Martha replied, looking around.

"Not a Doctor, not really, but I am a scientist," Jo added.

"Well, that certainly is nonsense," the Matron replied, going back to Martha, "Women might train to be doctors, but hardly the skivvy, and hardly one of your color." Martha stopped and gave her a look, Jo's hand clenched into a fist.

"Oh, do you think? Bones of the hand," she started, holding her hand up, "Carpal bones, Proximal Row: Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetral, Pisiform. Distal Row: Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate. Then the Metacarpal bones, extending in three distinct phalanges: Proximal, Middle, Distal."

"You read that in a book," Joan Redfern refused, waving it aside.

"YES! To pass my exams," the doctor in training exclaimed.

"Can't you see? This is true," the scientist asked.

"I must go."

"If we find that watch, then we can stop them," Martha exclaimed, moving after the exiting nurse. Jo followed suit.

"Those boys are going to fight. I might not be a doctor, but I'm still their nurse. They need me, Josephine? Are you coming?"

"The Doctor needs us," she mumbled, looking away. Matron left the room and Josephine moved to comfort Martha, putting a hand on her shoulder; Jo added, "I'm going to go find Tim. Keep looking for the watch!" Before she ran out.

-/JEL/-

"_What do you think of Mister Smith?" Tim asked one day, munching on an apple. Josephine was cleaning the dirt from the wounds on his knees. He actually tripped over his feet during a game. This time his injuries really were accidental._

"_Well...I think…" Jo paused, collecting her thoughts, "He's a very nice young lad."_

"_You think?"_

"_Yes, he seems very well-versed and smart. Average, ordinary." They sat in silence for a while._

"_Something's off about him."_

_Jo looked up, "Oh? What makes you say that?"_

"_There's something funny about him. He's a bit weird."_

"_A bit mad?" Josephine grinned._

_Tim chuckled, pointing at the girl with his finger, "Exactly!"_

-/JEL/-

Josephine was just walking up some stairs when a scene of the Doctor enveloped her mind. It was him, standing in the fire with an angry look on his face, screams calling out. It ended just moments later, leaving Jo standing there in shock, barely registering the little girl running past only to snap out of it when Tim barreled right by her. Following him, and lagging behind, Josephine Erica Lewis tracked Tim all the way up to the boy's dormitories, just in time to see him open the watch, a bright light shooting out.

"_Lord of Time_," it spoke.

"Tim, go!" Josephine shouted, startling him.

"Miss Lewis?" he wondered.

"Yes, now go! They're coming!" she shooed him, both heading for the windows and out to the grounds to escape into the woods.

-/JEL/-

"_Tell me something about yourself, Miss Lewis," Tim asked one day, laying on the cot. This time he had a fever and was to stay the night._

"_What would you like to know?"_

_Tim shrugged, loopy, "I don't know...what's your favorite color?"_

"_Huh," she paused, dropping the dirty clothes back into the soapy water. "I've never really thought about it."_

"_Really?" Tim sat up in the bed; Josephine pushed him back down._

"_Yes, really, I'm a busy woman...hmm...perhaps it's the color of the sky, just before a storm is about to hit. Back when I lived in America-"_

"_I always knew there was something off about you."_

"_-the clouds would sort of cloud over and darken to this bluish grey color and the earth would feel nice and warm, a soft breeze running through my hair, and then...and then the cool rain would fall and everything would feel fresh the next morning."_

"_That was…" Tim peered over at her, "oddly descriptive."_

"_Yes, well," Josephine looked down at her hands, "that's a much better way to describe the color then just light grey."_

_Timothy looked up, eyes squinting, mouth lazily curved, "My favorite color is probably the autumn leaves." Josephine smiled, smoothing his hair back._

-/JEL/-

Tim knocked on the door, holding Jo's hand tightly. "I brought you this," Tim told Martha when she opened the door. "And Miss Lewis."

-/JEL/-

"_Tim?"_

"_Yes, Miss Lewis?" the boy looked up from his book._

"_Do you happen to know where I could find Mister Smith?"_

"_I think he's in his office, why?"_

"_I don't know," Josephine shook her head, pausing in the main hallway. A piece of paper was clutched in her hands. _

"_What's that in your hands?" Tim pointed to the paper and Jo numbly handed it over. He opened it up. "Were you planning to take him to the dance?"_

_Jo snapped out of her absent gaze, shaking her head and looking down at the boy. She scowled, snatched the paper from his hand, and marched away, calling back, "Of course not!" Latimer watched, sharking his head, before walking to his next class_

-/JEL/-

"Hold it."

"I won't," John Smith refused.

"Please hold it," Josephine begged.

"It told me to find you. It wants to be held," Tim added.

"You've had this watch all this time?" Matron asked incredulously, "Why didn't you return it?"

"Because it was waiting…Then because I was so scared…of the Doctor," the boy told her.

"Why?"

"Because…I've seen him. He's…like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun-"

"Stop it."

"-he's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time. And he can see the turn of the universe," Latimer continued.

"Stop it! I said stop it!" John begged. Josephine stared at the man in front of her, never taking her gaze off of him, never leaving the sight of the pain on his face.

"And…he's wonderful," the boy ended.

Matron pulled out the journal, "I've still got this-the journal."

"Those are just stories," John Smith refused to accept.

"Now we know that's not true, perhaps there's something in here," she offered.

An explosion went off in the distance.

"What the hell?"

"They're destroying the village," Jo whispered.

"The watch!" John muttered, going for it.

"Please don't John," the girl in a ripped dress and shorts begged.

"_Closer…Closer…_"

"Can you hear it?" Tim asked; Josephine nodded.

"Like he's asleep, waiting to awaken. "

"_Waken me, little man…_"

"Why did he speak to me?" Tim wondered aloud.

"Oh, low-level telepathic field, you were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram, causing-" John Smith—the Doctor?-inhaled deeply, snapping out of it, "Is that how he talks?"

"Yes."

"That's him!" Martha exclaimed happily, hopefully, "All you have to do is open it, and he's back."

Another explosion went off in the distance.

"You knew this all along, and yet you watched while Nurse Redfern and I-"

"I didn't know how to stop you; _we_ didn't know how to stop you," Martha interrupted, grabbing Josephine's hand. "He gave me a list of things to watch out for, but that wasn't included."

"Falling in love-that didn't even occur to him?"

"No."

"Then what sort of man is that? And now you expect me to die?" he questioned, voice breaking, tears almost spilling.

"It was always going to end, though. The Doctor said the Family's got a limited life-span," Martha explained.

"That's why they need to consume a Time Lord," Jo added.

"Otherwise," Martha continued, "Three months, and they die. Like mayflies, he said."

"So your job was to execute me."

"Mr. Smith, there are people dying out there!" Josephine tried to reason with him.

"They need him, and we need him, and I need him. 'Cause you've got no idea what he's like. I've only just met him; Jo's known him even less. It wasn't even that long ago, but…he is everything. He's just everything to me, and he doesn't even look at me, but I don't care. 'Cause I love him to bits-and I hope to God he won't remember me saying this."

Another explosion rang out.

"It's getting closer," Tim observed.

"Ah, I should of thought of this before; I can give them this-just the watch. Then they can leave, and I can stay as I am."

"You can't do that!"

"If they want the Doctor, they can have him."

"He'll never let you do that."

"And then if they get what they want, then-then…"

"Then it all ends in destruction," the Matron finished. "I never read to the end. Those creatures would live forever, to breed and conquer. War across the stars, for every child, Martha, Josephine, Timothy…Would you leave us alone, please?" Tim nodded, heading for the door, Martha slowly fallowing, and Josephine gave the Doctor one last look.

Another explosion sounded.

-/JEL/-

"_Why did you come here? To this town."_

"_Well," Josephine wrapped his arm in a bandage, "I have this friend. He needed someone to help him out for a while before he got better."_

"_This friend...do you love him?"_

"_Oh no, we're just friends."_

"_So why move?"_

"_Because friends help friends when they need help."_

_Tim started, pondering her words before nodding._

-/JEL/-

They sat there, in the dark, watching the explosions go off. Martha and Josephine pulled Tim in for a hug. Jo hummed a soft lullaby that she remembered…from…somewhere.

-/JEL/-

"_Miss Josephine," Tim's voice was nervous, unsure._

"_Yes?"_

"_Have you...have you ever kissed anyone?"_

"_Yes, why?"_

"_I mean...like did you feel something after kissing them?"_

"_Well," Josephine sighed and sat down next to him on the bed. "The first kiss I remember was with one of my bestest friends."_

"_And…?"_

"_I don't care for him that way, never have, never will."_

"_So you haven't felt…"_

"_Fireworks? Sparks? Shoot stars? No," she chuckled, patting his head. "Why? Have you?"_

"_It was an accident I swear!" _

_Jo grinned, "Well? What happened?"_

"_I swear it Miss Josephine, Hutchinson was just messing around-and-he tripped-and-"_

_Josephine cackled falling to the bed, "That is priceless!"_

_Tim pouted, staring down at the nurse as she giggled._

-/JEL/-

Martha and Josephine stood at the door. Martha was back in her leather jacket and Jo was wearing a pale oversized sweater, dark jeans, and not her leather jacket. The Doctor was making his way up the green hills, his hair flat from the rain. "Right, then. Malto bene."

"How'd it go?" Jo asked.

"Time we moved on," he replied.

"If you want, I could go and-" Martha offered.

"Time we moved on," he gave her a look.

"Um, meant to say, back there, last night, I-I would've said anything to get you to change," Martha covered.

"Oh, yeah, of course you would. Yeah," the Doctor replied, trying to believe her. Jo could see that he didn't.

"I mean, I wasn't really-"

"-No, no, no."

"Good."

"Fine. So there we are, then."

"There we are, then, yes." Jo stood there a bit awkwardly.

"And I never said…thanks for looking after me, both of you," he added before pulling them into a hug. Martha embraced joyously while Josephine kind of…patted…his ribs with her extended arms.

"Doctor! Josephine! Martha!" a familiar voice called out.

"Tim Timothy Tim!" the Doctor replied happily.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said softly, "And thank you, because I've seen the future. And I know what must be done…It's coming isn't it? The biggest war ever."

"You don't have to fight," Martha told him. Josephine watched him with soft, concerned eyes.

"I think we do."

"But you could get hurt," Jo told him, worriedly. She didn't see the Doctor or Martha staring at her in surprise.

"Well, but so could you, traveling 'round with him, and you, Martha, but it's not going to stop you."

"Tim, I'd be honored if you'd take this."

"I can't hear anything," Tim astonishingly exclaimed, holding the watch to his ear.

"No. It's just a watch now. But keep it with you for good luck."

"Look after yourself," Martha said before giving him a hug and a kiss on his cheek. Tim looked over at Jo, with something close to tears in his eyes. She reached for the boy, dragging him in for a very close and long hug.

He may have not realized it, but over time, after countless visits and conversations with the woman hugging him, he thawed her heart. "Don't be afraid to show yourself to others, be outspoken, be smart, and if you choose to fight, be brave and careful and don't forget. Don't let me find out you've needed to visit Matron for 'falling down the stairs'…Be…be safe, Tim," she whispered, a single tear escaping as she kissed his forehead, letting him go.

"You too, Josephine, your own watch is waiting." Josephine Erica Lewis dragged Timothy Latimer into one more hug before letting him go. The Doctor smiled at her before she entered the TARDIS, going back to wave goodbye.

"You'll like this bit," she heard the Doctor say before closing the door and starting the TARDIS.

-/JEL/-

"_Miss Lewis," Tim announced, entering the infirmary on night, "you are by far the nicest, sweetest, most caring woman I have ever met."_

"_Oh?" she looked up, a brow raised. _

_He pulled a flower from behind his back, "And as the nicest, sweetest, most caring woman I have ever met, you deserve the last, fully bloomed flower of the year."_

_Josephine smiled, accepting the daffodil, and bowed lowly. _

"_Why thank you, kind sir."_

"_You are very welcome beautiful lady."_

-/JEL/-

Josephine, Martha, and the Doctor stood far away from the ceremony, fake flowers on their chests, watching the service before them. Josephine's eyes locked with Tim's. Soft smiles graced their lips.


	11. First Symptom

**Chapter Ten: First Symptom**

"This way," Martha directed as they exited the cab. Josephine turned to look at her friend, the Doctor nodding at them to go on. Martha and Jo slung their bows on their backs, heading down the street as fast as possible.

"Doctor! Doctor!" a woman called out, halting their advancement.

"Hello. Sorry, bit of a rush. There's a sort of thing happening. Fairly important that we stop it," he told the blonde woman coming out.

"My god it's you, it really is you. Oh, you don't remember me, do you?" she questioned, Jo tilted her head, getting a good look at her-_The Angels are coming, keep your gaze upon their souls-_-the brunette shook her head. Ever since 1913, she'd been having strange thoughts at random moments that would…make sense later on. Like this one time when they travel to Quebec to solve the famous mystery of where the prized beaver hat was and Josephine had this thought about muffins and shoe polish and it turned out that the winner of the dance contest was the thief, hiding it under one of the chairs at the bakery where his lover worked at.

"Doctor we haven't got time for this, migration's started," Martha told him urgently.

"Look, sorry I've got a bit of a…complex life. Things don't always happen to me in quite the right order. Gets a bit confusing at times, especially at weddings. I'm rubbish at weddings, especially my own," he rambled, Jo noticed he rambled a lot, especially in front of pretty girls-actually just about anyone since he's rambled to her and Martha plenty of times before.

"Oh my god of course you're a time traveler, it hasn't happened to you yet, none of it. It's still in your future."

"What hasn't happened?"

"Doctor, please. 20 minutes to Red hatching," I emphasized.

"It was me. Oh, for God's sake, it was me all along. You got it all from me," the woman replied flabbergasted.

"Got what?" the Doctor asked.

"Okay. Listen. One day, you're going to get stuck in 1969. Make sure you've got this with you, you're gonna need it," she smiled, handing over the contents.

"Doctor!" both Martha and Jo shouted in annoyance.

"Yeah. Listen. Listen. Got to dash-things happening. Well, four things. Well, four things and a lizard," again with the rambling.

"Okay, no worries. On you go. See you around one day!" she called.

"What was your name?"

"Sally Sparrow."

"Good to meet you, Sally Sparrow." Just then a man came up, holding a thing a container of milk, with a look of shock and awe and…disbelief? Jo could tell that the two were probably in a relationship of some sort as the women took his hand, shocking him even more and smiled, saying,

"Goodbye, Doctor." They went back to their store, the Doctor nodding and turning back to follow the long gone Martha and Josephine.

-/JEL/-

The Doctor hadn't opened the packet of information. Not yet, not anytime soon after that. But after another leisure stroll through time and space with Josephine saving their butts on more than one occasion, they decided to go back to see Sally Sparrow. The Doctor thought something was off-like very off when they landed. The store that they had been to last time was in fact not there, just a…bakery about to be sold off-it was strange. Jo looked around, finally spotting a calendar in one of the windows, her eyes widening at the date. Even more so surprising was when Martha elbowed her and the Doctor, telling them to look at the papers posted up.

MISSING: SARAH LILLITH CARTER, MISSING SINCE JULY 15th! PLEASE CONTACT…

And there were more, at least two others from what Jo could see. The Doctor stared intently at the address where they all were last seen. Grumbling, the Doctor fidgeted with his coat and reluctantly pulled out the folder, putting the glasses that Jo realized he didn't actually need on his face and opened it. "I'm going to regret this, reading it will set it in stone…" he mumbled, not sounding, again, happy at all. Leafing through the pages, the Doctor let out a sigh before shoving them all back in his coat. "Come on then, this way."

Martha and Jo looked at each other, both wary and worried and unsure at where this is going. "Where are we going?"

"Wester Drumlins," he curtly replied, leading them down the street.

"What's there?" Josephine asked.

"Let's find out," he smiled at her, but Jo, having known him for months now could tell he was trying not to worry her and Martha-obviously telling her that something was going to happe-_Write in the future to give into the past, keep the flame alive, open me, open me_-

Jo stumbled, blinking rapidly and looking around. It happened again and no one noticed. She sighed in relief, fixing her stride and following the Doctor and Martha down the road, not paying attention to their conversation at all. Lately Martha was trying harder at getting the Doctor's attention, applying more cosmetics, wearing tighter clothes, styling her hair more, and what not with failure, but she kept trying and from what Jack and Martha had told her and the little tidbits from the Doctor, the man seemed to be still 'in love' with one Rose Tyler. He was apparently, not getting over it anytime soon.

After ten more minutes of walking, they finally found a house. A large, old house that looked like it had been vacant for decades. The Doctor led Martha in with their arms locked, skipping but Josephine could see the slight falter and hesitation with each step. Jo followed behind slowly, a little too slowly as Martha and the Doctor got into the house before her. Josephine took her time to see how unkempt the house and yard was, spotting a stone angel at the front.

Josephine turned around to enter the house, not seeing the angel behind her move, hands uncovering, body coming closer, and face turning into a snarl. Jo looked around the room in front of her, some of the glass and walls smashed and messed up. "Doctor," Jo called out in worry. No one replied to her. Jo turned around, preparing to leave and look around the building but halting when she found the statue's arm outstretched to her, roaring, and close to her neck as if to throttle. "Doctor," Josephine breathed, sensing the danger of the situation immediately.

_The Angels are coming, keep your gaze upon their soul, the Angels are coming, never break the connection, the Angels are coming, _ringing through her head, a voice like her own but so different.

Josephine blinked.

-/JEL/-

_Dear Doctor,_

_If my memory serves me correctly, which it usually does, then you have found yourself stuck in 1969. I hope that you are with Martha and that you protect her with all your power. She may be quite cross with you for a while due to the situation but I do expect everything to fall into place. I am unfortunately not in the same year as you. I do not understand what happened and where you are or when you'll come and save me like you always do, but I will admit I am worried._

_I have found myself seven years ahead of you in 1976 in the month of May. When you find me, I hope it is before August. I don't know where I'll live or where I'll work or do for the time remaining but I have no money, no identification, no psychic paper, and not a real Sonic. My prototype was in fact able to get me some cash before it completely died and I'm starting to consider selling all of the things in my jacket and purse._

_Hopefully you are in better conditions than me._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Josephine Erica Lewis_

-/JEL/-

_Dear Doctor,_

_It's been a fortnight since my last letter. It's silly how close this is like a diary, and I am proud to tell you that I am doing better. I spent the first few nights sleeping in the park but I started work at a bakery. My co-workers were not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed with the increase of customers on my baking skills. I also met a nice lady who's a professor at a university who may need a sub from time to time due to her constant traveling. She tested me on my mathematical skills and decided I was perfect for subbing. Between then, I'll keep baking._

_I'm also pleased to tell you, Doctor, that I found one of the missing people. One Miss Sarah Lilith Carte is my roommate in the flat above the shop. She and I have decided to stick together but she knows that I'm leaving eventually. She does not know I'm another victim of the Weeping Angels. I'm not sure if it's the correct name for those statues but whenever I have nightmares, there's always a voice whispering and hissing at them, calling the statues 'Weeping Angels' and the 'Lonely Assassins'. This, unfortunately, happens quite frequently. How is Martha? Stupid to ask because you can't reply, but I felt it was needed to be asked._

_It is odd becoming friends with these people. I've only really ever had Jack, Will, Yolanda, and now Martha…and even you. And then there're also Jack's friends, who care for me, but I've never really met a true stranger and just clicked. Most of my friends were connected through dark parts in my life-actually all of you are, but it's still strange. I keep using the word strange and its bothering me but so are a lot of things._

_I wish you were here._

_I wish you would come sooner._

_Sincerely,_

_Josephine Erica Lewis_

_P.S. I've enclosed as much money I could to you to help._

-/JEL/-

_Doctor,_

_I couldn't breathe, I can't breathe. Being here it's-it's just too much. I can't breathe. There was…this thing, I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but we were all celebrating Sarah's birthday and we went out to the bar and…I remembered something, something I shouldn't have, something I don't think I want to, but it was just this feeling, like deja-vu when this…guy's hand touched my waist. It was to steady me when I tripped, of course, but, but the way it glided up for a moment was not and I couldn't-I can't-I can't breathe._

_Come soon,_

_Josephine_

_P.S. I've enclosed the money to help out._

-/JEL/-

_Doctor,_

_Today I turned twenty-two. I thought you should know that my birthday is on November 8__th__, today though is July 31__st__. I've been keeping track of the days I've been in the TARDIS. If you ever do get me back or even these letters, I thought you two could light a candle and eat a cupcake from a bakery, like I'm doing-sorry that sounds stupid, forget I mentioned it._

_Sarah got me a new pair of gloves. She noticed I never take my own air off before, even for baking. She assumed it was because I have a bad scar from an accident but I guess she's never noticed the metal embedded into my skin. I never did tell you about that did I? That time in the hospital, I remember you asking me what was on my hand._

_Well, when I young, my adoptive parents and I got into a car crash on our way home from a competition, for art or science I don't know, but we were hit by a truck and thrown of the bridge. Somewhere along the fall, the glass broke and a lot of it got into my skin, damaging the muscles, paralyzing my hand slightly._

_After their death…I…began making this invention to help the hand move, kind of like a robotic arm but more of a second skin or glove. It still gets tweaked and modified from time to time, at one point, I created latches that allowed me to throw knives, but many have seen it as an 'accessory' or a publicity stunt. I guess I was a strange child, throwing myself into work instead dealing…with their…deaths._

_As you saw I've only painted once or twice after their deaths, both abstract pieces until you came. You…..you….you __**dimwit**__. God why did you have to come into my life? You just barged in with your red shoes…and your blue suit—not even holding a grudge after I punched you. And you didn't even look me up…and I'm not even a real companion and dammit Doctor, I shouldn't have to cry on my birthday, but you just…you just destroyed a Cyberwoman, which yes, I know was a really angsty thing to say at the time but I just couldn't deal properly because you bring out these things in people, you idiot, and you change them and sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad and I'm not sure whether it's good or not and I just…I wish you were here._

_I wish we were all together, traveling time and space and watching stars die and creating new experiences…and introducing these thoughts in our minds that the stupid apes we are wouldn't—couldn't have thought of without you. Even I, the amnesia genius, wouldn't have lived without this. And you were right when you talked to Lazarus and I was wrong, I was so wrong to do all those things that I've done. I was wrong and that usually doesn't happen to me. I usually don't speak like this, I usually don't think like this, this distance between my time and yours it…hurts. I'm all jittery and I'm worried about Martha all the time being the same and you getting into trouble and me getting into something and me finding out something that's horrible and awful…and being…separated. No friends who understand. No family to comfort. No one. No you and Martha. I've always had constants in my life, Doctor, well now I do, but it's just they were always the same people. Losing your parents is hard, I can't remember it, but I can feel it still, even with my blank memory. But losing your __**family**_ _is worse._

_What am I going to do when you drop me off at my doorstep one day?_

_What will happen to me?_

_Come soon,_

_Jo_

_P.S. I've enclosed the money to help out._

-/JEL/-

_Dear Martha, _

_Don't let the Doctor read this. I only trust you with this information because the Doctor can be tough and stubborn and I don't even want to get into that discussion. How are you?-That's off topic but I thought I should ask that._

_Martha, I'm worried._

_Something's going on with me. Well there are many things going on, first of all, there's this guy at the bakery. He was one of the students I worked with when I was subbing at the university. He found out that I worked at the bakery and now he comes in all the time and kind of just __**watches**_ _me, is he stalking me? I wish you were here to answer and help._

_Second, somehow Sarah convinced me to get a tattoo-don't ask me how. I didn't realize how powerful puppy eyes can be. But I now have a tattoo on my inner thigh, oh god, I just hope no one notices, I'll show it to you when we're alone._

_And finally, I found something in one of my jacket pockets; I didn't even notice it was in there. It's old and has a bit of rust on it. I've had all my life, slipping my mind constantly, but Martha, it's a watch. A fob watch and-and ever since 1913, I've been having these dreams. And there are whispers in my mind and since I've discovered the watch…Martha, they've gotten stronger and louder and Martha, don't tell __**anyone**__. I need to understand this on my own. I won't open it, but Martha, I'm scared. I'm worried what this means and I don't know if I should open it or if I can continue on not knowing. Martha, Martha I'm so scared. The nightmares…I haven't slept for more than five hours… _

_Come soon, I miss you, I need you,_

_Jo_

_P.S. I found a way to get you my letters, Jack, my friend; we just met the first time today. He doesn't understand our relationship yet but he promised to get these letters to Sally._

_P.P.S. I've enclosed the money to help out._

-/JEL/-

_Doctor,_

_Tell Martha I figured out what that boy wanted. He just wanted to go on a date! Can you believe it? I said no. The total experience just reminded me that I've never been in an intimate relationship with someone before. And…I don't even care at all about that fact. I actually enjoy that fact. Jack, my friend, would be ashamed to even know me. He's a complete flirt with me-well not just me, everyone in fact, he's just a flirt._

_Which makes sense considering his good looks, mischievous grin and twinkle in the eyes, and then how smooth he is at picking up girl-and boys-and anyone really. I miss him. But I kind of really don't understand why so many girls are attracted to him-I mean I do, but I guess that it's just that he's not my type. I mean he can come really close to it a times: smart, funny, serious when needed, goofy, tall, great smile…But he's too much of a flirt, I'd want it to be kind of like a mystery novel. It can be so obvious at the end who it was (or in this case how they felt) but you don't realize it because you're in too deep and it just spontaneously makes itself known. And you don't even care because…well…I guess they would be in 'love'. Sorry, that was really odd and descriptive but that's what happened with my parents and I wouldn't mind going down that road at all._

_I wonder if there's a human out there like that for me-or an alien, I don't judge…Just someone…with really nice hair…maybe brown-or green eyes…I'm going to go and do…men-stuff!_

_Bye, come soon, miss you,_

_Jo_

_P.S. I've enclosed the money to help out._

-/JEL/-

_Doctor, Martha,_

_Find me on this exact date and time-I don't know why, I just know you need to come at this time. I think…I think something bad is going to happen. August 22__nd__, 1976 at 11:13 PM, on the forty-seventh second, I think you need to come save me._

_Jo_

_P.S. All my money is in here, I don't plan staying much longer._

-/JEL/-

Josephine was nervous, her heart beating wildly even as she sat still. Ever since she woke up at three twenty eight, she knew something bad was coming. It wasn't a feeling, it was _knowledge_. Like watching hurricane warnings on TV, knowing that it was coming, it wasn't going to move to the right, no, it would keep going, creating this path of destruction. It was coming for Josephine.

_I'm going to die_, she thought.

No, she wasn't. She couldn't, the Doctor hadn't come for her yet. Oh god, he wasn't coming for her. He didn't care. Josephine Erica Lewis, dead and Yolanda and Martha and Jack and _Will_ all waiting for her to come home. Oh god, she would die just as the girl at the bakery who substitutes sometimes at the university, not the Prime Minister's adoptive niece, not the girl who lost her parents, not the distinguished artist, not the amnesia genius, not the girl just learning to feel. And it was all because of the Doctor.

_He's coming for you, his promise lies, at the end we see him again._

Josephine shuddered, snapping herself out the feeling. She woke up this morning to one thought that promised: '_The light of life taken away, leaving the soul alone, the darkness cocoons, a nomad comes, a state of being lost; foreshadowed_.' Images of red and orange and warmth but blistering heat and then abrupt _darkness_, blue, black, grey. Lighter blue and then white, blinding white piercing through her brain woke her and left her gasping for breath.

Quickly fishing out a piece of paper and pen, Jo began to write. A short note to the Doctor; one telling him the numbers in her head, the worries she's had, and the date. Then she began another note, to Sarah:

_My dearest flat mate, friend: Sarah,_

_I'm writing this letter at four in the morning. When you read this, I may already be gone. Don't come searching for me, you won't find me, but I would like to tell you a few things._

_First and foremost, I am sorry. Sorry for leaving you, sorry for telling you lies, sorry for waking you up for the past few weeks to my screams, sorry for being so closed, sorry for opening up to you, and sorry for letting you go through this alone because I'm sorry, but I've always known. Sarah, I know you are from the future, I know you went to an old house one night because you are a brave woman. I know that one moment you were there and a second passed and you were here. I know this because I went to that old house, I went there with my two friends and I know they were taken to another time and I know they will come for me and I know that they won't let you go with us._

_Sarah, we would take you if we could, but the day I leave, you won't be there with me._

_Don't be saddened, I know something dangerous will happen to me, I haven't died; I will be saved, but don't be sad. I will make sure of it that I will meet you again. You will be an older lady and I may look the same but we will meet again. Because we've sworn on the tattoos on our thighs to be friends forever, that is why we got symbols of eternity, isn't it?_

_You are going to live a beautiful life. Be happy, find love, get married or fight for that marriage because I __**have**_ _seen those looks you share with Rae and you should go and get her, have kids whether it's through adoption or birth, and just live. Live a long good life because a man I knew once said that it wasn't about the length of time you lived but how you spent it that made the life greater._

_Sarah, I have lied to you about my past-just the really noticeable details like how I'm the ex-Prime Minister's niece and just how smart I am, but the little things were true, everything I told you about __**me**_ _were true. I am and will forever be awkward and geeky and unsure of human interactions but absolute about facts and the past and present and I will always have that secret addiction to pastries and really hate the music of this era, but I won't ever lie to you about who __**I**_ _am._

_I'm sorry I'm leaving you, I'm sorry I lied, and I'm sorry I wormed my way into your life and you mine, but I don't regret that and I don't regret our memories together._

_And finally, I wanted to say sorry for having to say goodbye my friend. And you may meet me-younger me-in the future and you may hate her and you may follow my journey through this hell of a life, but I want you to remember that I got better and that we became friends and you'll always be my friend. Stay that kind person who let a broken girl live in your apartment, stay kind and loving and sassy because you were-are an amazing person, forever and always._

_Your friend, your tattoo buddy, your flat mate, your misplaced in time companion,_

_Josephine Erica Lewis_

_Josephine_

_Jo_

_Your bakery warrior._

Tears streamed down her face from the moment she wrote sorry, quiet sobs escaping her lips as she got up and made her way to the kitchen, making breakfast for her friend as a silent thank you. Sarah gave her an odd look, but accepted the food anyway.

-/JEL/-

"Hey, Rae," Josephine asked as she worked behind the counter with the other woman, organizing pastries and what not.

"Hmmm?" she asked, redecorating the chocolate cupcake.

"Do you like Sarah?" Rae froze and dropped the cupcake, it landing sadly on the floor. Jo scooped it up and threw it away before turning back to one of her few friends.

"Umm, why?" she asked, nervousness clearly in her voice. She had a crush as well, Jo realized with a smirk.

"Well I was just wondering because if you do, you should go for it because she feels the same."

"How do you know?" she asked hopefully before realizing her mistake, slapping herself in the face, "I mean, I don't like women! What in the heavens are you talking about? A woman liking another woman? Preposterous! I mean Jose-"

"It's okay, I don't care at all, my best friend is gay, you should still go for her, society be damned," Josephine interrupted.

"You really think so?" Rae asked, a bit shyly, uncommon on the loud woman.

"When you aren't looking, she is," Jo replied slyly before sauntering away. Rae spoke the words silently to herself before understanding and smiling,

"Thank you!" she called as the brunette went to the kitchen.

"No problem," she replied with a hand.

-/JEL/-

Josephine offered to close up shop for Emma, the bakery owner, and cleanup. Emma was shocked by the offer but nodded and thanked her, telling her she could take a croissant with her. Josephine smiled, nibbling on the bread late in the night-it was eleven-as she visited all the places she'd been while stuck here. She entered the school, heading towards her classroom so she could look around. At the university, every classroom had a science table on it, with some gas, a sink, a few beakers and what not.

At eleven o' four Josephine heard the door click shut.

At eleven o' five an unsuspecting hand grasped her arm tightly in the dark.

At eleven o' six she was pushed against the lab table.

At eleven o' seven her body began to struggle, turning the gas nobs.

At eleven o' eight she threw her first punch. She ran to the door.

At eleven o' nine a wish went off in her head. _Oh dear god save me_. And the man punched the woman in the face, knocking her out. She slid to the ground.

At eleven ten an unconscious woman's clothes were torn off by a rapist. Smiling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. A spark went up.

At eleven eleven the room lit on fire, a burning rage of fury. He was killed instantly. Her body caught on fire, burning flesh, and the smoke filled her lungs angrily.

At eleven thirteen and forty-seven seconds a noise began to ring out, a sound that signaled help to some and danger to others. A blue box appeared, standing tall, shielding the heat.

At eleven thirteen and fifty-three seconds the door opened, the flames licking at them with a fury.

At eleven fourteen, the woman was scooped up by the man, her face in a mask of unconscious pain as he held her softly.

At eleven fifteen, the box disappeared.

At three twenty two the next morning, a scarred, lonely woman with purple eyes woke up with a scream tearing out of her throat.

But it wasn't the cold eyes of the rapist that she saw, but warm brown ones that she had come to miss. Nothing had ever frightened her even more when the man she dreamed about came barreling in.


	12. The Cure To Forgetting

**Chapter Eleven: The Cure to Forgetfulness Is Remembrance**

_Hot blistering heat, pure white, red and orange, and blue pierced through my every pore and ate me alive. It hurts, its hurts so bad, it's as if someone threw a thousand hammers on my body at once, each hitting a different bone. Snaps and crackles filled my bleeding ears and I cried out in cold hard pain. A wail got lost in the noise of the storm._

_I was dragging my body across the glass littered ground, cuts forming as I reached forward. I was heading for the wall because I know that this fire is contained into a single space and I knew that if I didn't reach the wall then I'd never find the exit and then I'd die here. I will die here in this heat and pain and alone, all alone because he couldn't find me…he didn't save me. My hand reached out again and touched flesh and my eyes snapped open in surprise and I hurried myself along so I could reach the other person, hoping we could help each other to escape._

_I wasn't expecting it, the face of my friend, cold and dead and not waking up, I screamed and wailed and a gasp and a cry and everything escaped my mouth at the sight before me._

_He's untouched by the flames, his perfect face was untouched and he looked peaceful. And he still looked amazing and I could just imagine how they would react if they found him. He's supposed to wake up, any minute now, but there's a feeling deep in my gut, telling me that he won't. He won't ever wake up again. I whisper his name, chanting, willing the plea from my voice to give him life again._

_And suddenly the room stops burning. Everything gets dark and blue and black and grey and everything has become darker and the flames are gone but the pain is still there. "Josephine?" a kind woman's voice called out, worry laced in the voice of comfort. I looked up and I knew that I'm now a child. I knew that the woman before me was my mother. I knew because I remembered._

"_Mom?"_

"_Sweetie," she cooed, reaching for me and pulling me into her arms but I still held the hand of my friend._

"_Mommy," I cried, "He's dead…he ca-can't be dead. He just can't, he told me-he told me he would never-he would never leave. What are they going to say? What are they going to do without him? Mom-mommy, he's my friend-he helped me, he really helped me even if I never told him-I never told him how tha…thankful I was to have him…"_

"_My darling Josephine, it's okay, it's going to be-" she never finished and she stilled. I looked up worriedly to find her touching her stomach and I looked down. A small line of blood bled out of her white blouse and more gurgled out of her mouth._

"_MOM! MOM! Wha-what's going on Mom!? Stay with me-don't leave me-MOM!" I shouted as she fell back, her body falling limp in my arms. I scrambled up from my spot and the flames returned._

_I looked out in the red and white and blue and in the smoke, I looked out until I spotted the gun in his hands. I followed the path from the hand to the arm to the shoulder to the neck and to his face. A was startled at the cold fury in his brown eyes. I was startled when he lifted the gun._

_A shot rang out._

Josephine screamed herself awake, looking around her, a frantic animal, tearing at all the wires around her. "Not again, not again," she whimpered and mumbled crazily at the memories of her awakening all those months ago. Blood leaked out from where the wires once where and the door to the infirmary opened. The sight of him made her scream falling to the ground.

She scampered up immediately as he closed in on her and she backed into the wall, screams and whimpers escaping her chapped lips. She looked around, looking for an exit, realizing the only way out was behind him. She wasn't hearing his words; she didn't notice his lips moving. She stood up shakily as he got closer, palms flat against the wall until he was almost a foot away. Josephine stepped forward and punched the Doctor in the nose, again, and pushed him into the cot, leaping for the door. She didn't look behind. All she knew was that she needed to get out.

"Josephine wait!" he called. She ran down the halls, never stopping, sprinting, breathing jaggedly. Her injuries made her slower but she kept going, barreling through the pain. She kept running and running until she found her way to the control room, frantically searching for a phone or a way out or _something_. Josephine spotted it, a few feet away on a chair. Martha had left it lying around in the room and Jo scrambled to get it. Jabbing in the numbers she impatiently waited for him to pick up.

"_Hello? Captain Jack Harkness speaking who may this be?_" he asked.

"Oh thank god you're alive," she whispered to him, letting out a breath of relief.

"Jo? Jo, what's wrong? Jo are you okay? What happened?"

"I…I thought you were dead-I'm sorry, I just…I just woke up and-"

"Jo, did we just meet? Did we just meet in the seventies? And you just got out of the-"

"Fire," she ended for him, "Yeah, I was…I was so scared and worried and it was just awful and it didn't feel like a dream-it felt like a memory and Jack I was so scared, so, so scared." Her breaths sped up and she could practically hear Jack begin to worry.

"_Hey, hey Jo, it's just me, hey just breathe, it's going to be okay, just breathe. In and out…and in and out and in and out…"_Jack soothed and Jo followed his voice, controlling her breath and she didn't notice the Doctor and Martha standing there watching her cave in on herself, trying to calm down. "_Hey, just calm down, it'll be-_"

"Don't say that, she said that and she…and she died-right before me…oh god Jack she and you and him and it was just…it was just awful Jack, I'm just so glad you're okay…you were dead and you wouldn't come back…" her voice broke into pieces, "An-and she tried to com-comfort me but then she-she was just…gone…she died, in my arms Jack."

"_Jo, is this 'she' is she? Is she your-_"

"My mother died in my arms," she wailed softly into the phone, until her voice became cold and harsh, "Because _he_ killed her." Josephine felt a hand touch her shoulder and she looked up to see Martha smiling comfortingly. More tears fell down her face as the other woman pulled Jo into a hug soothing and hushing her tears away but Martha could not stop the sobs coming out of her lips.

"_Who was it Jo? Who was the man?...Jo?...Jo, what's going on? Jo?_" Jack asked frantically when he did not get a response. Martha took the phone out of Josephine's limp fingers and held it to her ear,

"Hey, is this Jack? I'm Martha, Martha Jones, Jo's friend. She just had a real bad nightmare, we're going to try and help her, I'll call you back later to let you know how she's doing." She hung up before he could reply and Jo buried her head in Martha's chest, hugging the woman tightly. Martha looked up at the Doctor, who's nose had stopped bleeding long ago, and gave him a meaningful look. The Doctor reluctantly nodded and made his way to them, crouching down and pulling them in for a group hug.

They both held Jo as she unraveled in their arms, something neither of them expected or had ever witnessed before. They didn't bombard her with questions. They didn't do but hold her vulnerable frame to them, letting her tears soak and whimpers muffle into their shoulders. They held her until her body went still and her breathing was low and steady. They carefully picked the light girl up and took her to her room. Martha realized then that she wasn't just sleeping less, but also eating less.

As they placed her on her bed, having decided that waking in the infirmary might not have been the best idea, Martha got under the covers with her, the Doctor opting to sit on the chair by the desk. "What do you think happened to her?" Martha wondered gazing at the shuddering girl; she looked up at the Doctor.

"I think…I think she's remembering," he answered after a long moment, watching her body curl into a ball.

"I don't think that asking 'what happened exactly' is a good idea."

"Agreed," a look of foreboding took place on his face. Josephine mumbled in her sleep. He knew what was to come, he knew soon the screams would begin, that's how he knew she was remembering. Soon enough the mind would be ready to remember, bits and pieces coming to light at the most random moments but the Doctor knew that this memory was forced, by an unfortunate event making her remember, like that time all those months ago with that stranger in the bar. The Doctor knew her mind was fragile, extremely fragile, and just one wrong push could shatter it. And then she could be lost to them forever.

-/JEL/-

Josephine woke up hours later, to find both Martha and the Doctor passed out near her. She had a pretty peaceful sleep after her first awakening and it took her a moment to breathe, to breathe in the TARDIS and the wispy scent of adventure. And then she smiled a dopey smile until her thoughts began to wander. And they didn't usually wander. She was so focused on her tasks that it wasn't often that her mind wandered. That's why she didn't take up that coffee or date with that boy in 1969. That's why she didn't do much of anything but her job when she had a normal life. A normal life if you could even consider it that, but the life she lived now was filled with adventure and experiences and newness and _feelings_. She had never lived that life.

She never wanted to leave.

But she knew she should. There were demons out there trying to get her, trying to make her remember and she didn't want that, not yet. She didn't remember all of it but she knew from what had happened earlier that it _should not, under any circumstances_ be forced or thrust at her. If it did she'd lash out. Now Jo was a very reserved person, not really showing all of her abilities all at once but when she was in danger, in any state of being, she would reek of her intelligence or her strengths and used them to escape. She did that best, escaping.

So Jo tiptoed out of her own room, slowly walking down the halls and grabbing her jacket from the med bay. She also knew that now was not the time to talk about the watch, and it wouldn't be for a long time, not until she was better. She checked the pocket to make sure it was there and zipped it up, putting the garment on herself and feeling the weight heavy against her chest. As she snuggled back into her bed she only hoped-something she rarely ever did-that it would get easier than this.

She was wrong of course, something else that rarely happens, but traveling with the Doctor never allowed for an easy ending. Her end was coming fast, a meteorite set on its course. It could collide at any second, destroying everything in the vicinity.

-/JEL/-

They started off slow, getting her more and more used to the idea of being back home-in the TARDIS. They never asked what happened in 1976 or the day she came back or what happened when she awoke. They let her come back slowly into her mind. It was about a week (or was it two?) before they started on mini adventures. Going to disaster free locations and times and their streak of positivity lasted a good month and at that point she could look at the Doctor in the eye again and not shy away from his hugs or smiles. And Martha and Josephine were beginning to have long heated discussion about medicine once more. All was getting better. It wasn't swell and it may never be good again, but it was the best they were going to get and soon enough, it would not just get well, but better.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Totally just edited all the chapters before this, so if you didn't get a chance, totally check em out. Hopefully, I'll be back in business and I have better ideas.**


	13. The Noise Inside My Head

**Chapter Twelve: The Noise Inside My Head**

Another month-or was it two? Three? Four months?-passed until things were better. Josephine wasn't sure but it was. It was better. Everything was better and everyone was closer and every moment was more fulfilling and joyous and everything felt free. Josephine told them at one point a bit about her dream and how terrified she was and how glad she was about meeting them and Josephine eventually convinced the Doctor to visit Sarah. And Sarah smiled at Josephine, albeit sadly but Jo didn't care and threw her arms around her old friend happily. Her departing words though, they haunted her, "Come back when you are better," she had said and that had sounded…foreshadowing but Josephine squashed it down, planning on thinking about it when she was alone.

She didn't though, no she left it to sink to the bottom of her worries. What a mistake that was.

-/JEL/-

They landed in Cardiff, but Jo was taking a shower so she didn't quite notice. While she was rubbing shampoo into her hair, the TARDIS lurched and her hand slipped, poking her eyes and poking her eyes with soap. "FU-" She cursed, falling to the ground. "DOUBLE FUC-"

The TARDIS continued to lurch and shake, Josephine shrieked, tumbling over her soapy feet in the small shower. "Ow, ow, ow," her head collided with the white tile wall, "OW! GODDAMMIT TARDIS!" Jo fell to her knees and clung to the door, refusing to get hit one more time-

The conditioner bottle thwacked her head.

-/JEL/-

"Don't you think we should go tell Jo?" Martha asked as the Doctor reached for his coat, making his way to the doors.

"Nah," he shrugged, "She's probably taking a nap-"

-/JEL/-

"Why is this happening to mmeeeee?" Josephine whined, rubbing at her stinging eyes.

-/JEL/-

"—so she'll be okay."

"I'm leaving her a note," Martha decided.

"Suit yourself, she'll catch up eventually."

-/JEL/-

"I hate everyone," Jo decided, talking to herself as she washed her hair. "I hate every single person in the universe-whoever caused this can go to hell." She rinsed her hair and got out, smelling like Everlasting Sunshine. She grabbed her toothbrush and angry scrubbed at her gums and teeth before she spat and left the bathroom.

Pulling on a pair of dark jeans, a navy blue shirt, and her leather jacket, Josephine slipped on her heels and reloaded the device. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and grabbed a pen, making her way to the door to get to the hall. She touched the knob and twisted it…but…it wouldn't budge. She turned it again, pushed and pulled, and smacked her hand against the door.

"TARDIS? TARDIS what's going on?" she called. No answer. She tried it again and again and again…She slapped her hand against the white wood, "TARDIS~!"

No reply.

-/JEL/-

"TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Josephine whined, slumped against the door, sitting on the ground. "Why do you haaaaattttte meeeee?"

No reply.

"TTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssss!"

No reply.

"TAAAARRRRRDDDDDDIIIIEEEESSS-"

The door opened and Josephine fell out into the hall. She scrambled up from the ground. "TARDIS I love you!" she cheered, heading down the hall. When she reached the control room she headed for the exit door. "My god, where is everyone?" She went to open the door. It wouldn't budge. Josephine jiggled the handle. "TARRRRRDDDDIIISSS!" she cried. "I hhhhhaaaaaatttteee you!"

No reply.

-/JEL/-

Josephine sat in the captain's chair and noticed a sticky note on the computer screen. She snatched it, reading:

Jo,

The Doctor and I've gone off to explore! We're at the end of the universe so…stay inside till we come back! Have fun!

-Martha

Jo growled, scrunching the paper into a ball. "I hate everyone. Why didn't they just come get me or I don't know! WAIT for me to get out of the shower!" Josephine pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "Today sucks."

-/JEL/-

Jo was eating Cheetos when the door unlocked. She squealed and grabbed her prototype, slotting it into her jacket, getting orange dust everywhere. She plunged out of the TARDIS and was met with loaded guns. "SHOW US YOUR TEETH!"

"What the hell?" she wondered, blinking against the harsh flashlights. She opened her mouth but was still unsure what they meant. One of the people (?) grabbed her by the arms and held open her mouth while another inspected her teeth.

"Human!" the guy called and they released her. She rubbed her shoulders and looked into the blue eyes of one of the men. He weakly grinned.

"Sorry."

She nodded, cracking her neck. "It's cool, what's going on?"

"Some guy called the Doctor wanted us to get that blue box."

"Oh? You know where the Doctor is?"

"Yeah."

"Cool! You can take me to him. We're real tight, we're best buds," she sorta, kinda, maybe, totally lied.

"Okay," the guy nodded, "I'm Ethahn."

"Josephine."

They got the TARDIS on the trucks with Josephine safely inside-off to the Doctor.

-/JEL/-

"Professor, tell the Doctor that we found his blue box."

"Ahh!" the Doctor cheered, happy to have his TARDIS back.

"Doctor?" Jack called.

They gathered around the screen, gazing at the TARDIS. Out came a young woman, with dark brown hair and a grinning smile. She waved at the camera.

-/JEL/-

"JOSEPHINE!" the Doctor exclaimed when they pulled the TARDIS into the lab.

"Doctor!" she smiled, reaching forward to give him a small hug. "So good to see you, so glad you left me out there."

"Well…"

Josephine mock-slapped him and cackled, she looked around and then stopped, spotting Jack. "Jack?"

The man smiled, "Jo-jo."

"JACK!" Josephine sprinted to her friend and leaped into his arms. They squeezed the life out of each other.

"I haven't…I haven't ever seen you," he was at a loss for words, pushing the girl back to look at her face, "I haven't ever seen you this happy before!"

"Jack! Jack, Jack, Jack," she mumbled his name, "JACK!"

"Yes?"

"I don't know!" she giggled, drunkenly, "I'm just so excited to see you!"

He smiled, "I'm excited to see you too."

"Oi! How do you two know each other?" the Doctor asked, pointed at them.

"Oh," Josephine stopped laughing, "this is my friend, you know, the one I told you about? The one who set up all those cameras in my loft."

"I should've known," he grinned, smirking at them, "Of course Jack would be your Jack."

"Your Jack?" said man turned to Josephine.

She nodded, "You are my Jack." The man grinned, shrugging.

-/JEL/-

"I am Professor Yana," the older man introduced, shaking Josephine's hand. "It is very nice to meet you Miss-"

Liar. Liar. Pants. On. Fire. Liar, liar. The voice hissed in Jo's head but she restrained from gasping. She nodded her head, giving him a weak smile. Master. Master, he is our Master. Submit and die.

Jo shook her head, clearing her eyes.

-/JEL/-

"Extra power!" the Doctor exclaimed, pulling a cable to a plug. "Little bit of a cheat, but who's counting? Jack you're in charge of the retro feeds."

Martha and an insect girl came into the room. "Oh am I glad to see that thing." Josephine dropped what she was doing, throwing her hands up in the air,

"MARTHA!"

The girl turned around.

"JOSEPHINE!"

"MARTHA!"

"JOSEPHINE!"

"MARTHA!"

They hugged.

"Connect those circuits into the spar, same as the last lot," Jack directed, all business, "but quicker."

"Yes, sir!"

Jo grinned, heading for one of the machines to start fixing things.

-/JEL/-

Drums, drums, one beat, two beats, three beat, four beats, drum, drum, drum.

-/JEL/-

Something was going wrong. The power was shutting down, Jo was staring at Yana, and the Stet radiation threatened to rise. Jack grabbed some cables, sparks flying, alarms blaring in their ears.

"We can jump-start the override!"

"Don't it's gonna flare!" the Doctor yelled. Josephine screamed, watching her friend shake and fall to the ground. Josephine was pulled back into her dream.

He's untouched by the flames, his perfect face was untouched and he looked peaceful. And he still looked amazing and I could just imagine how they would react if they found him. He's supposed to wake up, any minute now, but there's a feeling deep in my gut, telling me that he won't. He won't ever wake up again. I whisper his name, chanting, willing the plea from my voice to give him life again.

Martha pushed Jo aside. "Chan, don't touch the cables, tho!" Chantho flung the cable to the side, fingers slinging back from the sparks.

"I'm so sorry," Yana told Martha as she opened his mouth. She was going to use CPR. Josephine reached for the Doctor, scared. He nodded softly at her and grinned.

"The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?"

"Without the couplings, the engines will never start. It was all for nothing!"

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor stepped forward. "Martha, leave him."

"You've got to let me try."

"Come on. Come on. Just listen to me, now leave him alone," the Doctor ordered. "It strikes me, Professor, you've got a room which no man can enter without dying. Is that correct?" Josephine turned to him, eyes wide.

"Yes."

"Well…"

Jack gasped.

"I think I've got just the man."

Jack looked up, "Was someone kissing me?" He looked to Jo and she shook her head, grinning once more.

-/JEL/-

The Doctor and Jack sprinted far ahead of her so she was perfectly fine with just skipping leisurely down the halls behind them, knowing she wouldn't be as much use to either party. The lieutenant ran past Josephine.

"What are you taking your clothes off for?"

"I'm going in!" Jack exclaimed, pulling down his suspenders. Josephine rolled her eyes.

"Well, by the looks of it, I'd say that STET radiation doesn't affect clothing, only flesh."

"You idiot," Jo grinned.

"Well," Jack shrugged, surging forward, "I look good, though." He ran to the door before turning back, "How long have you known?"

"Ever since I ran away from you. Good luck." Jack opened the door to get inside and Josephine sidled up to the Doctor.

"You two have such an interesting history."

"He told you about it?" the Doctor inquired. Josephine nodded.

"Oh yes, a while before you offered to travel with me-before Lazarus but after the moon."

"Ahhh," the man tilted his head, stepping forward. Josephine followed him to peer into the room. After a moment, he turned back to her, "You should probably go help the Professor."

She nodded, taking one last look at Jack.

-/JEL/-

Time and space-space—space-

Jo gasped, leaning against one of the walls.

Two voices echoed in her head, one like her own, the other older, wiser.

"Ullani," a woman whispered, nudging her shoulder, a man stood next to them. "That's a TARDIS."

That's a TARDIS.

That's a TARDIS.

Josephine blinked, stepping forward.

"Daleks…" another voice echoed. Josephine rubbed her eyes. Fire burned across her lids. Pale hands reached up, cupping a face's cheeks. "Daleks are coming."

"Ullani, Ullani you must run."

Run.

Run.

Josephine struggled forward, a head ache splintering at the front of her skull.

"Time war…" She tripped. The grey tile was cold under her fingers. Her nails dug into the edges, pulling her up. A scream sounded from behind her. Ullani looked back and watched as the red haired girl fell to her knees, clawing at her neck.

"Go!" the woman gasped. Ullani tripped, stumbling forward as the fires fell from the sky.

Ullan-Josephine stumbled to her feet, shaking her head to clear the thoughts, scratching her neck against the sudden heat.

"Regeneration…" Josephine cried out, throwing her head back, clutching at her ears.

Regeneration.

Regeneration.

"I-I don't want to!" Ullani cried, thrashing against the older woman.

"You must regenerate. You're not safe in this form."

Regenerate.

Regenerate.

Form.

Form.

Josephine's eyes opened, pupils shrunk, violet irises bright in the dark.

-/JEL/-

"Ullani," a woman cooed. Her eyes were a pale gold, hands wrinkled, she touched her cheek. "You look beautiful."

The girl grinned, looking down at her purple dress. Golden bands wrapped around her arms and wrists, tattoos trailing up and down her skin, and painted lips the color of red wine. Her white hair trailed down, cascading down her front. "You think so?"

"I know so."

A crash, an explosion, and scream rang out from the red tent. The older woman's face paled and grabbed the younger girl, ushering out from the cloth. "Where are we going?"

"The palace! You'll be safe there!"

-/JEL/-

Josephine groaned, eyes clenching shut as the head ache pounded in her ears. She stumbled along, heading for the lab. "Josephine!" Martha cried. Bleary eyes opened up.

"What?"

"It's Professor Yana! He has a fob watch!" Jo's eyes widened, posture growing ridged.

"Go tell the Doctor!" Martha nodded and sprinted down the hall; Josephine went in the other direction.

-/JEL/-

"The TARDIS. The time vortex. Regeneration."

Echoing loud in Josephine's head as she scurried down the hall, the watch in her pocket burned against her chest.

"Open me…"

She yanked the device from her pocket. It glowed and it burned in her hand.

"The drums…"

Drums.

Drums.

"Open me."

Open.

Open.

The silo shook, the roar of engines screeching in Jo's ears as she recalled…as she recalled…memories.

A maniac grin.

Bodies swaying, drinks flowing.

Hands touched her waist, dragging her into his arms.

"Hello."

Josephine cried out, clutching her head. She stumbled into the lab, crashing to the floor. "Chan, but you looked them in, tho," a voice cried.

"Not to worry my dear. As one door closes, another must open," Yana explained, pulling up a lever. Jo stumbled to her feet, leaning against the door as her mind cracked.

"Chan, you must stop, tho," she begged. "Chan, but you've lowered the defenses the future kind will get in, tho." Yana moved on, messing with buttons.

Josephine stared at the old man and felt, familiarance. She felt like she remembered him but that memory was just escaping her grasps. She felt her gut turning, her body heating up, and her heart getting colder, dents forming in her shields.

"Chan, Professor, I'm so sorry…but I must stop you-you are destroying all our work, tho." Jo looked up, watching the raised gun shake in Chantho's grip. She looked so scared; Jo clutched her stomach in pain, phantom pains in her lower regions.

"Oh," the Professor's grin was full of malice, "Now I can say I was provoked." He raised the electric cable towards her.

"No!" I groaned. I pushed myself to my feet but fell back to the wall.

"Did you never think, all those years standing beside me, to ask about that watch? Never? Did you never once think, not ever, that you could set me free?"

"Chan, I'm sorry, tho," Chantho cried, backing away, "Chan, I'm so sorry."

"And you…with your "chan" and your "tho", driving me insane!"

Josephine stood once more, willing the pain away, taking one small step at a time to the girl.

"Chan, Professor, please-"

"That is not my name!" Chantho gasped. "The Professor was an invention-so perfect a disguise that I forgot who I am."

"Chan, then who are you, tho?"

"I am…the Master," he whispered before plunging the cable at Chantho. Josephine screamed. The Master.

The Master.

The Master.

The Master…

"I am your Master," the man grinned, pushing her down on the table, strapping her arms down.

Josephine screamed.

-/JEL/-

"Professor!" the Doctor screamed, "Professor, let me in!" Jo got to her feet, wobbling on her legs.

"It-it was you."

"Hmm?" the man looked back at her.

"It was you, I know you. You-you're the one who k-kidnapped me."

"LET ME IN!"

"I have no recollection of kidnapping you."

"No, no nonono no no no non, no, it wasn't you…but it was you."

"Professor! Professor, where are you?!"

The Master approached her. She flinched when he raised a hand to her cup her neck. "Hmm…" he hummed, tilting her head from side to side. "Looks like I'm not the only one hiding."

"W-what?"

"Does he know? Does he know what you are?"

"Chantho! Chantho, are you there? Josephine?"

"I-I don't know what I am."

"Hmm," his grin turned lecherous.

"Please!" the Doctor shouted, "I need to explain. Whatever you do, don't open that watch!"

The Master turned away from Jo, grabbing a disk from the computer, "Utopia."

Martha screamed from outside and Jo flinched, sliding back to the ground.

Jo tucked her knees under her chin, rocking back and forth.

Ullani.

"Professor! Open the door please!"

His hands groped her thighs.

"I'm begging you, Professor, please, listen to me!"

"Josey!"

"Just open the door, please!"

"Hey, hey, Jo, listen to me, can you hear me? Can you hear me, hey wake up, Jo. Jo, I said wake up. Guys, call an ambulance-Jo. Jo!"

A shot rang out and the Professor cried, Josephine's eyes glazed over.

"Yolanda would be so proud."

The door opened.

"You are to be my wife, princess. And then, once we've bonded, we'll be unstoppable."

"Let me in. Let me in!"

"She's dead," Martha cried. Josephine twitched.

"I broke the lock. Give me a hand."

"I'm begging you! Everything's changed! It's only the two of us! We're the only ones left!"

"Open up sweetie, be a good girl and this won't hurt."

"Just let me in!"

Screaming and gold light touched Josephine's body. She whimpered at the heat.

"Doctor. You'd better think of something!" Jack's cry broke through to Jo. She snapped, body going rigid, and she stood, shuddering, hesitantly, as she pushed at the door to close. "Help us! Help us close the door!"

"Now, then, Doctor…" Jo cried out. That voice, that voice, so familiar. Jo fell to the ground, body limp as she stared at the Doctor's shoes, his voice washing over her ears. "Oh, new voice. Hello. Hello! Hello. Anyway. Why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans, and you can work out a way to stop me-I don't think."

"Hold on. I know that voice," Martha whispered.

"So do I," Jo mumbled.

"I'm asking you, really properly, just stop, just think!"

"Use my name."

"Master. I'm sorry."

"Tough!" his voice cracked like a whip, it stung on Josephine's back. Scars littered there, whip marks and cuts stroking the flesh, greeting her blood with a hello.

"I can't hold much longer, Doctor!"

"End of the universe. Have fun. I'll be seeing you Miss Lewis! Bye-bye!"

-/JEL/-

"Doctor, stop him! Doctor, help us! They're getting in!"

"Don't move! Hold it still!" the Doctor shouted, pointing his Sonic at the Manipulator. Future kind clawed at the door, howling to get in.

"I'm telling you, it's broken. It hasn't worked for years!" Jack exclaimed.

"That's because you didn't have me. Martha, grab hold!" the Doctor exclaimed. He turned to Josephine. He pulled her up onto shaky legs, curling her fingers around the Manipulator. He nodded at the shaking girl. "Now!" The whoosh sucked them in.

-/JEL/-

They landed in an alley and Jo crashed to the ground, landing on her knees. "Oh, my head!" Martha complained, leaning against the wall.

"Mm! Time travel without a capsule-that's a killer!" They cracked their necks and Jack pulled Josephine from the ground. Her eyes almost rolled back, her skin ghostly pale.

"Jo? Jo, what's wrong Jo?"

"I, uh, I need a moment."

"We don't have a moment."

"I know, I know," she mumbled, nodding her head. "So...so I'll catch up."

"Catch up?" the Doctor turned to her.

"Yes, catch up, I'll meet up with you guys later."

"Joseph-"

"Go, Martha, go." Jack stared at his friend, unsure if he should follow her request. The Doctor put a hand on their shoulders, nudging them forward.

He pointed a finger at Jo, "Keep your phone on."

She nodded and they reluctantly left her. Once she saw them leave, she curled up into a ball and cried, the headache pounding against her skull.

-/JEL/-

When her tears dried and her body felt numb, she pushed herself up from the dirty ground. She stumbled out of the alley, leaning against shop windows as her head thrummed.

_Regeneration._

_Regeneration._

_Regeneration…_

Josephine paused, head resting against the wall, breath shuddering out of her. A hand clamped down on her arm but she couldn't fight it, a plunger hitting her neck, but also, she was tired. So weak and confused, her body was shutting down, it kept twitching and groaning with each movement.

"Mr. Saxon will be pleased to see you."

Tears fell from her eyes.

-/JEL/-

"Come on, come on, come on," Jack muttered. The phone kept ringing but no one would pick up. "Pick up, pick up, Josephine you promised!"

"Something the matter?" Martha asked, approaching him. He looked over.

"Yeah, I've been trying to get in touch with Jo but she won't pick up."

"What? Why wouldn't she answer?"

"Don't know-pick up! Josephine! Jo-"

"_The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please-"_

Jack kicked the wall. "Dammit!" He shut the phone and turned to Martha. "Something must have happened."

The Doctor looked over to them. "What are you on about?"

"It's Jo, she won't pick up," Martha called.

The Time Lord paused, staring at the little fire they had. "All we can hope for is that she got away."

"Doctor," Jack protested.

"_Jack_."

The man huffed and prayed silently in his head for Josephine's safety.

-/JEL/-

Josephine woke up in a foreign bedroom. The walls were cream and the floors were hardwood and she laid on a plush black bed. She lifted the covers up to find herself only in her undergarments. She shuddered, hoping it didn't mean what she thought it meant. She slid out of the bed and found a pile of clothes waiting for her on the plush chair. She quickly dressed, pulling up the black skirt, tucking in her red blouse, and slipping on the blazer. Her toes felt uncomfortable in the heels and she didn't like putting her hair up in a bun.

She stared at herself in the mirror, watching the trembling girl shudder. She closed her eyes when there was a knock on her door. Letting out a sigh, she whispered, "Come in."

The door opened and _his_ head popped in. "Hello, honey buns!" She flinched. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room. "Show time!" And just as he closed the door, he whispered into her ear, "You looked so good that night-_delicious_, I say."

She jerked in his arms but he held her tight.

Delicious.

_Delicious._

_Will and Yolanda were off somewhere in the club and this man kept feeding her drink after drink. Shots and shots and she was dizzy, slurring, and grinding. God, she was horny. She clung to the lapels of his jacket, leaning for a kiss. "Hi."_

"_Hi," he grinned, "Don't you look just delicious!"_

Josephine gasped, skull pounding. Ghost touches stroked her arms and the sides of her thighs.

-/JEL/-

Harold Saxon dragged Josephine Erica Lewis into the meeting room, sitting her down next to his wife, "You've met Lucy, haven't you?"

"I don't think we have!" Lucy smiled, hugging the shaking girl. "Oh, Harry," she cooed, stroking Josephine's face, "I think she's nervous about the press conference."

The Master hummed and leaned into Jo's ear, "Now, I want you to sit tight, and don't move a muscle or Daddy's gonna punish you, got that, Princess?" Jo stilled.

Daddy.

_Daddy._

Princess.

_Princess._

"_What'reya doin'?" the girl slurred, head lolling against the back of the chair._

"_Just inspecting my prize, Princess." His hands pushed her legs apart, pulling down the-_

"Two minutes, everyone," the President of the United States called. "According to the treaty, armed personnel are requested to leave the flight deck immediately, thank you."

"Jelly baby?" the Master offered to his companion.

"Broadcasting at 7:58, when the arrival timed for 800 hours exactly. And, uh, good luck to all of us." The Master grinned.

-/JEL/-

"My fellow Americans, patriots, people of the world, I stand before you today," the President greeted the camera, "as Ambassador for Humanity, a role I will undertake with the utmost solemnity. Perhaps our Toclafane cousins..."

_Toclafane._

_Toclafane._

"_Maderia!" a chubby little girl cried, her hands tugging at the woman's dress. She bent down and scooped the little girl into her arms._

"_Yes, Ullani?"_

"_Maderia, Maderia, Gyna told me that the Toclafane are real. Are they real Maderia!" The woman wiped away her tears._

"_Course not, the Toclafane is just a story, a fairytale."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really."_

Jo's body wanted to shudder, wanted to gasp out but she couldn't, the Master's words echoing in her ears like a threat.

"...but that we learn to see ourselves anew. For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Know we know we are not alone..."

Something moved out of the corner of her eye. It almost looked...like the Doctor...and Jack...and was that Martha?

"And I ask you now, I ask the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you...the Toclafane." Little spheres appeared out of the light, bobbing in the air. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President-Elect of the United States of America and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and it's associated moon."

"You're not the Master," one spoke.

"We like the Mr. Master," a female sounding one added.

"We don't like you."

"I...can be Master, if you so wish," the President tried, "I will accept mastery over you, if it is God's will."

"Man is stupid."

"Master is our friend."

"Where's my Master, pretty please?" the sickeningly sweet voice asked.

"Oh, all right, then. It's me!" the Master got up from his chair, "Tada! Ha ha ha! Sorry. Sorry, I have this effect. People just get _obsessed_. Is it the smile, is it the aftershave, is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy."

"Saxon. What are you talking about?"

"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam, starting with you." Jo's stomach twisted. staring at the Master bringing down his foot, looking to the side, and ordering, "Kill him."

One of the spheres flew over, spikes emerging from the shell, and shooting a laser at the president. "NO!" Josephine shut her eyes but didn't move.

The Master laughed, clapping. "Guards! Nobody move! Nobody move!" He ran up to the steps. "Now, then! Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully," the Doctor ran forward.

"Stop him!"

"Josephine!" she didn't move.

"We meet at last, Doctor. Oh, how I love saying that."

"Stop this! Stop it now!"

"As if a perception filter's going to work on me. And look...it's the girly and the freak. Although I'm not sure which one's which." Jack lunged forward.

"Aah!" the Master brought out his own weapon and shot it at Jack, hitting him square in the chest. Josephine bit down her cry as Jack fell down, not moving.

"Laser Screwdriver, who'd have Sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!"

"Master, just calm down, just look at what you're doing. Just stop!" the Doctor begged. "If you could see yourself…"

The Master turned to the camera, "Oh, do excuse me little bit of personal business back in one minute-let him go."

They shoved the man forward. "Ah! It's that sound-that sound in your head, what if I could help?"

"Oh, how to shut him up? Miss Lewis? Any ideas?" Everyone turned to Josephine but all she could do was stare at the Master.

"Josephine!" the Doctor and Martha called. The Master's eyes grinned, promising her something she didn't want.

"You've been such a good girl, Princess-oh! I know! Memory lane!" the Master, pulled Josephine out of her chair, tucking her into his arms. "Let's start with you!" A tear fell down her face. "About a year or two ago, wasn't it? Answer me!"

"Y-yes."

"Josephine-"

"And you were all dolled up nice and pretty, eh? It was your twentieth birthday!"

"Please don't," she mumbled. The Master grabbed her chin.

"Nah, uh, uh, Princess, I didn't tell you to speak," he tsked before, pushing her away. She stumbled to the ground. The Master turned to the Doctor. "Isn't she a beauty? Anyway, Professor Lazarus-remember him and his genetic manipulation device? What did you think little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time, and if I can concentrate all that Lazarus Technology into one little screwdriver...but, ooh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code." He paused for effect. The Doctor's eyes looked for Jo's but she was staring at the ground, head bowed. "Oh, wait a minute-I do."

"Josephine, listen to me, you've got to-"

"I've got his hand. And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another...100 years?"

He pointed the device at the Doctor and the man began to wail, body aging in front of everyone's eyes. Josephine clenched her's shut, tilting her head just a bit away, hearing just his howls. When it stopped, Jo opened her eyes once more. He was old and wrinkly, hair went from most of his head. Martha clawed toward him, helping him, "Doctor. I've got you." Martha turned to Josephine, "Why aren't ya helpin'?" Jo looked to the floor.

"Aw, she's a would-be Doctor," the Master taunted, "But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown them in, all the way from prison!"

The door opened and the Jones family entered, wrists bound. "Mum."

"I'm sorry," Francine sobbed.

"The Toclafane, what are they? Who are they?"

Toclafane.

_Toclafane._

"Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break-but!" he grinned, standing up, grabbing Josephine, "I think you're a bit overdue on the heart breaking, am I right?"

"Master," the Doctor objected.

"Do you want to see something cool?" the Master ignored him. He presented Jo. "Have you ever wanted to see something amazing?"

"Doctor, what's he doing?" Martha whispered, staring at Josephine.

"You know, the human mind-well I guess the human mind, that's not really the case here, is it?-but the human mind is very fragile," he dragged a finger along the side of Jo's face. "I mean, after serious trauma, the mind tends to block out everything. It tries to make them forget."

"No!" Jack yelled, scrambling to his feet. Some guards grabbed him.

The Master turned to Jo, caressing her cheek, "Now, you're doing great Princess, haven't even moved a muscle!"

Josephine, tilted her head a bit, nodding, "Y-yes, Master."

"Now," he turned back to the Doctor, "when I first met Miss Lewis here, she already knew me, but I, of course, didn't know _her_," he touched her lop. "Amazing, how the mind works. It can build up these walls and barriers, but it can all be torn down."

"Master," the Doctor, warned. "Jo-Josephine."

"Now, Princess, I'm gonna tell you something and you're gonna feel real bad afterwards, okay?"

Another tear slipped down her face. She didn't want this, she didn't want, she didn't want-

"I-"

Bang!

"-want-"

SNAP!

"-you-"

Boom!

"-to-"

SLAP!

"-remember-"

CRACK!

"-everything."

CRASH!

-/JEL/-

Josephine Erica Lewis, age twenty two, adoptive daughter of Conner and Danielle Lewis, orphan, genius, favorite color the shade the sky gets just before it's about to storm, best friends with Jack Harkness, scientist, owner of a fob watch, baker, victim, niece of William and Yolanda Curtis, purple eyed, favorite drink is lemon tea, Ullani, renowned artist, former "Cyberwoman", freak, nicest person in the universe, wallflower, awkward child, amnesiac, Princess, mystery, and girl with an infinity tattoo on her thigh just remembered.

And then she fell to the ground, shaking and spasming on the ground. Everyone stared in horror as the wails that she screamed through the night, spilled out of her mouth. The Master grinned,

"Ta-da!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh my god guys, I'm sorry, I just realized I'm really bad at uploading because like half of this chapter disappeared...**


	14. A Long Time Ago

**Chapter Thirteen: A Long Time Ago**

**WARNING: THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER IS DARK AND MESSED UP! See Author's Note if you don't want to read this-I'll give you a quick summary of what happened. Thanks, sorry, this is why it's rated M.**

A long time ago a girl was working in her small lab. It was technically very large but she was the only resident per her request. Alien relics scattered along the many lit tables with microscopes, scalpels, and tweezers surrounding them. Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco, MSMR and Passion Pit, and sometimes the Arctic Monkeys roared out of the speakers, echoing in the large white walled and tiled room. She wore her lab coat, hair pulled up in a bun, gloves on her hands as she tapped away at the machines. Sometimes you could hear her singing or the keyboard clacking and sometimes you could smell pastries wafting, filling the air with sugar and...well, spice-sometimes.

The door banged open and she looked up from her work, staring as the women sauntered across the floor. "Josephi!" Yolanda cried. "Why are you still working? It's your birthday!"

The girl didn't look up from her work, "I don't really care."

"But...but Will and I got you a party."

Josephine looked up, "What? Why would you do that?"

"So you can _celebrate_ silly."

"But...I don't really _care_."

Yolanda gasped, placing a hand over her chest, mockingly throwing her head back. She then clutched at the desk, over-exaggerating her horror. "What!"

Jo rolled her eyes, turning back to her work. "I'm working, Yolanda."

"But...party!"

"But, _work_."

"Party!"

"_Work._"

"Party!"

"Work."

"PARTY! I promise it will be fun!" Yolanda pestered.

Jo sighed.

"_Fine_."

-/JEL/-

Yolanda got the girl in a green dress and pulled her hair down. Jo sighed when she began to apply lipstick and really, really, didn't want to wear the heels but did it anyway. Yolanda had the most effective puppy eyes.

-/JEL/-

The party was in full swing and Josephine should've realized that a bunch of politicians, celebrities, and royalty partied like animals. Jo was introduced to the buzz that alcohol gives pretty quickly. And by the middle of the party she was already dancing and had kissed two people. Will and Yolanda disappeared hours ago.

This man kept feeding her drink after drink. Shots and shots and she was dizzy, slurring, and grinding. God, she was horny. She clung to the lapels of his jacket, leaning for a kiss. "Hi."

"Hi," he grinned, "Don't you look just delicious!"

"Only if you'll eat me!" she giggled, stuffing her face into his neck.

"Wanna get out of here?"

"God! Yes!"

The man took her hand, leading her to the back.

-/JEL/-

They got into his car and he pushed her into the seat. "Open up, Princess."

"What'reya doin'?" the girl slurred, head lolling against the back of the chair.

"Just inspecting my prize, Princess." His hands pushed her legs apart, pulling down the material at the apex of her thighs. He leaned forward, tongue tracing a strip of skin all the way up to her-

"Oh!"

-/JEL/-

Harold Saxon stared at the sleeping girl. Her hair was much longer than before and no stress lines covered the edges of appearance. He grabbed her arm and pulled the pale flesh closer for inspection. His thumb brushed over the skin and little lines appeared. He kept dragging his finger along the black lines that now appeared, littering her arms in black markings. The curving lines appeared with each touch of his fingers. His grin stretched and he cackled, pulling her limp body to him, biting at her neck.

"Oh, I'll have you now, Ullani!"

-/JEL/-

She woke up sweaty, cold, and with a figure looming over her, scratching at her chest, thrusting inside her. It burned.

She screamed.

-/JEL/-

"I know you're in there, Ullani," he whispered, breath ghosting at her ears. She shuddered and curled even deeper on herself, away from him, as much as possible in the corner. "Ullani~~!"

She didn't reply.

"ANSWER ME!"

She cried out, the sting of the whip harsh on her back.

"Stop! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"YES YOU DO! Come on, Ullani, where are you? Are you locked inside this pathetic human?"

"Stop, stop, please stop, I don't know-"

"I'll get it out of you, Ullani. I'll find a way."

The girl sobbed, hugging her knees to her chest, trying to hide her nakedness.

-/JEL/-

The knife slipped through her flesh, dragging down, down, down-she whailed in the darkened room. Barely healing scabs oozed across her skin, centered around her front, her chest crusted with blood. "Please! Please stop!"

"I need to talk with her! You're not _her_!" he dug the knife deeper into her organs.

"Sto...stop, please...please stop," she panted. The Master paused. He looked over at her sweaty face. "Why...why do you think I'm her?"

"Because…" he drawled out the word and lifted her arm. Black wavy lines swayed across her skin, reaching out. "That's her mark."

"Mark?"

"Ugh," he groaned, dropping her arm to the metal table. She flinched. "You're so daft in this form. Yes! Mark! You have her eyes, her bonding mark-you even have her face!"

"But I...but I-I don't understand-why do you care so much about a mark?"

The Master rolled his eyes and slashed another scar by her ribs. She shouted. "Because! If I can get Ullani, then I can bond with her, then! I'll be _unstoppable_!"

He turned away. When he came back, there was a lighter in his hand.

-/JEL/-

"GOD! This just isn't _working_!" the man yelled, throwing down the whip. The girl shuddered, trying to catch her breath. Her ribs were broken, her lung undoubtedly punctured. She wheezed. He roared, chucking the knives at the wall in rage before grabbing a dagger and hacking at her thigh, growling with each strike. She howled, trying to move but the restraints held tight. He stopped, leaning against the table, closing his eyes.

His eyes shot open and he shot up again. "I know!"

She groaned.

"Ullani never responded to pain, no, she was very strong, no," he paced, "No, I've only ever seen her cry when her people were being destroyed-that's it!"

"Oh god, no."

He grinned, "Don't worry, Princess, I'm not going to kill the human race-not yet at least-no, no, no, I'm just going to kill your parents-"

"They're already dead," she spat.

"Not where you're going-and not just your parents, Ullani, every single person you've ever cared for. Yes! Perfect!"

"What-what? What do you-"

He struck the whip against her stomach once more. She yelped.

"Silence!" She bit her tongue. He smiled, "I'll be back in a bit, sweet cheeks!"

-/JEL/-

"Know you're just gonna feel a pinch so lift up...oh, aren't you so pliant! So _obediente_! Okay, now-don't move!-I want you to, yes, thanks sweet cheeks, annnnnddd-"

Josephine blacked out.

-/JEL/-

She blinked, sitting back in her seat. The trophy was held loosely in her hands, eyes glancing back and forth from the cars that passed by on the highway. "You did so well Josey!"

"Thanks Momma! I really, really liked making the little car! It was so much fun and I got to see Joey!"

"Joey Kim?"

"Yeah!" the little girl grinned. Her mother looked back from the front seat.

"Well, just remember-"

CRASH!

Josephine's head hit the window with the impact and her mother's arms flung at her, body lurching forward as the truck pushed them off the bridge. The car, fell, collided with the ground, glass shattering everywhere-

CRASH!

CLUNK!

SMACK!

The cars that were driving below the bridge slammed into the vehicle, jostling the beat up car, swerving the people inside. Jo's head kept hitting the window, the award smashed against her hand, and the glass impaled the skin.

A black line, swirled up her arm.

-/JEL/-

She blinked, sitting back in her seat. The trophy was held loosely in her hands, eyes glancing back and forth from the cars that passed by on the highway. "You did so well Josey!"

"Thanks, Momma! I really, really liked making the little car! It was so much fun! What do you think Jack!"

The mother and daughter turned to the man. He smiled. "You did absolutely amazing!"

"Thanks, Jack!"

"You're welcome, Jo." She grinned. "Hey! Do you wanna get ice cream when we get back home?"

"Yeah! I'd love to get ice-"

CRASH!

Josephine's head hit the window and Jack's head smacked against Jo's shoulder as the truck pushed them off the bridge. The car, fell, collided with the ground, glass shattering everywhere-

CRASH!

CLUNK!

SMACK!

The cars that were driving below the bridge slammed into the vehicle, jostling the beat up car, swerving the people inside. Jo's head kept hitting the window, the award smashed against her hand, the glass impaled the skin, and Jack's blood spilled everywhere.

Another black line, swirled up her arm.

-/JEL/-

She blinked, sitting back in her seat. The trophy was held loosely in her hands, eyes glancing back and forth from the cars that passed by on the highway. "You did so well Josey!"

"Thanks, Momma! I really, really liked making the little car! It was so much fun!"

"Josephine," the Doctor whispered, touching her arm. She looked over at him.

"Yeah?"

"Look," he pointed at the incoming truck. Josephine's mouth parted, just about to warn her parents, when the Doctor shoved his hand over her mouth. "Shh! Don't say anything!"

"What?" she mumbled against his hand, staring at the truck got closer and closer. She reached forward but the Doctor grabbed her hands.

"Let it happen!"

"But-"

CRASH!

Josephine's head hit the window and the Doctor twisted her wrists painfully as the truck pushed them off the bridge. The car, fell, collided with the ground, glass shattering everywhere-

CRASH!

CLUNK!

SMACK!

The cars that were driving below the bridge slammed into the vehicle, jostling the beat up car, swerving the people inside. Jo's head kept hitting the window, the award smashed against her hand, the glass impaled the skin, and the Doctor's fingers scratched at her lips. His eyes held no sympathy. Her eyes widened, glass scraped at her neck. She flung his arms away. "Why would you do this!" she shouted.

CLUNK!

The last car shoved her head into the glass.

The black lines, slinked up to her shoulder, inching towards her chest.

-/JEL/-

Her eyes blinked open.

Her eyes blinked open.

_Her eyes blinked open._

It kept doing that, blinking open, over and over again. It just kept repeating, the same scenarios, different people, the same ending: everyone dies. It would just go on and on and _on_. She would be put in a different memory and everyone would die. Eventually it was just the Doctor, killing and killing, touching and groping, cutting and burning, destroying every single piece of her soul, bending it, cutting it, and molding it to something new, something gruesome.

Sometimes he would just leave her alone for days, starving in the dark, scratching at the walls, some days the Doctor would just stare at her, like she was the most disgusting thing in the universe. Sometimes he would just talk and talk and talk, tell her all of his plans for her, how he'd break her every bone and what he'd do to her mother before killing her and then what he'd do to her body afterwards. Sometimes he would tear at her clothes and-

Lines kept stretching across her body, growing from her arms to her chest to her toes and to her neck, all the way up to her head. They just kept growing and growing, weaving together and swaying to each blow she took. Sometimes she'd blink and her eyes would already be crying, but she wouldn't know why until the end, until they all died. Until everything around her-

-/JEL/-

-Josephine's eyes snapped open, purple irises shining bright into the night. Her hair began to turn white and Jo-Ullani turned to the Master. "You," Ullani hissed.

"Ullani!" the Master crowed. "Finally joining us! Now I can finally get what I came here for!"

"My bond," she realized. She laid back down.

"Yes, and then I can defeat the Doctor!"

"Who?"

"The Doctor!"

Ullani rolled her eyes, "God, Master, I have no idea what you're _going on_ about. Let's just get this over with."

The man pouted, "What do you mean 'get it over with'?"

"I meeeaaannn, I'd rather you do this quickly."

"But-"

"Do you want the bond or not?"

"But-"

"I swear to god, if you don't get this done with quickly and when I come back, I _will_ kill you."

"Ullani, I thought you'd be more-"

"Against the idea?" she guessed. She sighed. "Master, I've known my entire life that my virginity and bond would be taken, not given. I accepted that long before I was engaged to Rassilon. What I do _mind_ is the methods you took to get me here," she growled that last part. "Now get this over with."

"No."

"No?"

"No," he nodded, "No, I'm going to make this last. I'm going to make you _burn_."

"Why?" she asked, staring at him.

"Because this is what you deserve."

"Deserve? What for?"

"_Everything_ you did to _me_."

Her eyes widened and he chuckled, picking up another knife.

-/JEL/-

"Now, Ullani," the Master looked down at the panting girl.

"What?"

"I want you," her eyes began to glaze over, his voice became soft, whispering, mesmerizing with each syllable, "to forget _everything_, and when I tell you to remember, you do, okay? Can you do that, Princess?"

"Wha..." she blinked, everything started to fade, "I mean...yeah...sure."

Everything went fuzzy.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, so, basically, this is what happened:**

**The Master realized that Josephine was Ullani (their relationship will be revealed later, plus who she is) and went back in time because he realized that they were bonded (ish) (I'll explain later on)**

**And then found the younger Josephine on her twentieth birthday.**

**She got drunk and was kidnapped by the Master, pretending to be Harold Saxon.**

**He took her to a secret location, raped, and tortured her in an attempt to bring Ullani out from where she was hidden. (Ullani used a chameleon ark [fob watch!] but it kinda backfire, i.e. her brains, her purple eyes, and the bond mark appearing on her skin [I'll tell you this: the bond appears especially during sex])**

**He used physically torture on Josephine until he realized that that was not working, so he turned to mental and emotional torture.**

**He place her under a bunch of simulations that made her go crazy, broke her heart, and caused her so much pain (a lot of the time the Doctor was the villian of simulations and this is why she used to flinch at his title, because she was remembering bits and pieces of him)**

**Eventually Ullani bled through and thus, the Master could take her bond.**

**It doesn't count in human form.**

**He raped Ullani, tortured her a bit, and then made her forget everything, unless he told her to remember.**

**I'm so sorry I have such a sick mind.**

**Oh, and thanks for reading! And to all my followers/favoriters, thank you so much!**

**Any questions, feel free to ask, I'll probably end up answering them in the next chapter, AKA, the Year that Never Was.**


	15. The Year That Never Was

**Chapter Fourteen: The Year That Never Was**

"Now darlin', I want you to lift your arms up, yes, thank you sweetie. Let's get you out this skirt and that blazar, and that shirt-oh! My, my, my, look what you're wearing underneath! You _naughty _girl." He gazed down at her bra, kneading the fabric, only stopping when he got bored. He sighed, dropping his hand. "Let's get you into this dress, hmm? You'd like that wouldn't you, Princess?"

-/JEL/-

Josephine's body was stretched across the table, limbs sprawled, and neck stretched, head tilted back. Her back was arched, thrusting her chest in the air. Her eyes were closed, thick lashes ghosting over her pale cheeks, and dark black lips parted. Her heels dug into the the table to keep her body in that position.

"Stay," the Master ordered and she nodded, stilling every muscle in her body, this forced inside her body taking over, following his every command. She felt his touch, his lips, dragging across her skin...but, she did not move. He inhaled, sniffing her perfume. She heard him back away, head towards another person. "You see, old friend, I _am_ amazing. I can make anyone bow to my will."

"Josephi-"

She flinched, falling out of position. Her fingers flew up to her head, nail racking against the tresses, messing it, scratching at her skull, half moons left behind. The Master slammed his hand down onto the table and she stilled, stopped breathing, closed her eyes. "I told you _not to move_!"

"Master," the Doctor begged. The man in question laughed, voice trickling into the room.

"It's alright, Doctor."

But everything was not alright.

-/JEL/-

The next morning, she came in with blue hickeys on her neck and bruises on her hips. The Master grinned at the pliant lady on his arms.

-/JEL/-

It went on like that for months. Each morning the Master would come into the room with his wife and his mistress on his arms, bruises and marks littering every inch of visible skin. His wife would go on to sit in her chair and watch time unfold. His mistress would climb onto the table and stay in one position for the rest of the day. Sometimes he would do stuff to her, like shoving an apple in her mouth, stroking her back, and sometimes, when he was really angry, he'd hit her. But she was not allowed to move, not a muscle, not to twitch, she was his statue. She was his toy, to play with and to break.

And she was pliant.

Everytime she did what he'd ask, her memories were dulled, her brain numbed and she could slip away from reality, away from the memories. And when she disobeyed, he'd throw them across the bond, shoving each bad moment. The headaches and phantom pains would last for hours, never subsiding, never numbing. She could never distract herself in those moments. So she was pliant, easy to use, easy to control. She didn't lift a single finger against him, just followed his orders.

She didn't understand why though. Why he did this to her. Why she mattered. How he did this. She didn't know, and her mind was just too...slow.

-/JEL/-

Ullani, on the other hand, was screaming, banging against the glass. The princess knew she could destroy the Master. She knew exactly how she'd do it, how many flicks of her wrist it would take to stab him, how fast she could do it, how to even release all of the victims from this hell. She even knew how to wake herself up.

But Ullani also knew that Josephine would feel the consequences.

Josephine Erica Lewis. Ullani found the human amusing. Josephine was of course Ullani and Ullani was of course Josephine, but the differences in the human and aderlow were quite clear. For one, Ullani was more emotional than the human. They shared the same face, the same skin, even the same eyes, but they did not share the same bond and the bond that would stretch across Josephine's body was not a true bond, no, a true bond only swayed across Ullani's pale flesh.

The bond on Josephine was just a partial bond, strong and powerful, but not amazing, not mystical, not a bridge that connected the stars to the universe or the moon to the tide-no, her bond only went so far. You could have partial bonds with many suitors, sharing thoughts, passing memories, inflicting pain-damaging the soul. But a true bond was only with one, with an equal and it sprang from the universe itself, weaving in and out of time, a glimpse of true happiness. Were they two halves of the same soul? Doubtful. Were they two puzzle pieces? Sometimes. Were they two friends? Often. Were they lovers? Maybe. Were they two people who met, smiled, and laughed? Yes, most definitely yes.

The Master only had a partial bond and he used it to damage Ullani's soul. She was a vengeful creature, willing to spill the guts of her enemy for a century. She was willing to tear him apart limb after limb, squeeze him till his eyes popped out-mutilate his body just as he did hers.

She could do it. She could kill him. But she couldn't, not yet. Josephine was very unstable, something they both shared, but Josephine's precious mind was tearing, cracking, and spilling at the seams and Ullani needed time to heal that wound. If she moved to quickly, she'd tear at the stitches the bond was slowly weaving and then Josephine would really fall apart.

But she was ready, screaming and banging behind glass, ready to smash the barrier and take over. She was ready.

She was ready.

-/JEL/-

"_Condition Red. Repeat-Condition Red_," a voice announced. Josephine opened her eyes, body tensing. She sat up and rolled her neck, not doing a thing while the commotion unfurled around her. Francine Jones passed the Masters jacket towards Tish Jones who passed it on to the Doctor. Jo slid forward, letting her legs go off the desk. The Doctor fumbled with the Master's jacket, pulling out the weapon. Josephine's heels clicked on the ground. The Doctor positioned himself, weapon pointed at the Master. Josephine slinked forward.

"Oh, I see."

"I told you," the Doctor spoke, "I have one thing to say." Josephine stopped just behind the man. The Master laughed when the Doctor tried to shoot but failed.

"Isomorphic controls," he explained. The Master looked at Jo. "Would you get that darling?"

Josephine tapped the Doctor's shoulder, startling the man. He looked up, eyes wide, as Josephine slipped the small weapon out of his hands. She sauntered up the steps and dragged the weapon down his cheek, feeling a pleasant whirl of numb flood across her brain, and slipped it into his fingers. He bit her ear, catching the lobe between his teeth. When he let go, the Master leaned down and punched the Doctor.

"Which means they only work for me. Like this." He shot the laser at Martha's mother. Josephine didn't even flinch, just stared ahead as he gripped her waist. "Say sorry!"

"Sorry. Sorry! Sorry!" the woman yelled. Tish ran over.

"Mum!"

"Didn't you learn anything from the blessed Saint Martha?" The Master and Josephine walked down, his wife quickly grabbing his coat. "Siding with the Doctor is a very dangerous thing to do. Take them away." Lucy stood off to the side as they took away Francine and Tish,

"Move. Come on."

Josephine crawled back onto the table, spreading her legs out wide and head tilted to the side. "Okay, gotcha!" The Master placed the Doctor in one of the chair at the foot of the table, right by Jo's feet. "There you go, Gramps. Look lovely, Princess," he nodded toward her. "Oh, do you know? I remember the days when the Doctor-oh that famous Doctor-was waging a Time War, battling sea devils and axons. He sealed the Rift at the Medusa Cascade, single-handed. And look at him now, stealing screwdrivers. How did he ever come to this? Oh, yeah. Me." the Master laughed.

"I just...need you...to listen."

"No. It's my turn. Revenge! Best served hot. And this time, it's a message for Miss Jones.

-/JEL/-

Josephine left the room one moment to get the Master's watch and by the time she came back, the Doctor looked so small, so tiny.

Josephine laughed at the sight.

The Master grinned.

-/JEL/-

It was silent that morning. Josephine didn't understand why, but she drifted along, following all of his wishes. He dolled her up all nice and pretty, told her that today was special. The Master didn't want her on the table, no, he asked her to stay by her side. She agreed and stared dazedly as the prisoners came in. She was brain dead today, so she felt no recollection when they dragged Jack Harkness in the room, or when they placed all of the Jones family on the other side. She didn't even blink, too distracted by the passing clouds, when Martha entered. She stepped forward and the Master stepped down.

"Your teleport device, in case you thought I'd forgotten," the Master held out his hand. Josephine blinked towards the women in black.

_That's a nice jacket_.

Martha reached down, pulled out something brown, and tossed it to the Master. "And now...kneel." Martha did as she said. Josephine glanced at Lucy, the wife had only eyes for her husband. "Down below, the fleet is ready to launch..."

Josephine's vision became black for a moment.

-/JEL/-

Ullani pounded her fists against the wall.

It cracked.

-/JEL/-

"...set to burn across the universe." He ran up to a machine. "Are we ready?"

"_The fleet awaits your signal_," a voice called back. "_Rejoice._"

"Three minutes to align the black hole convertors. Counting down."

Black hole convertors.

_Black hole convertors_.

Josephine hummed, _That sounds familiar...where do I know that...from...hmm…I can't remember… _

"Could never resist a ticking clock. My children! Are you ready?"

"We will fly," they chanted, a chorus of mechanical voices, "and blaze and slice. We will fly and blaze and slice."

"At zero, to mark this day, the child Martha Jones will die," he chuckled, "My first blood. Ha. Any last words?"

She did not reply.

"No?"

He glanced at the Doctor in his cage.

"Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex. That one's braindead," the Master pointed at Jo," and this one's useless. Bow your head. And so it falls to me, the Master of All, to establish, from this day, a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward-"

Martha chuckled.

"What? What's so funny?" Martha looked up.

"A gun?"

"What about it?"

"A gun, in your parts?"

"Yes, and I destroyed it."

"A gun, in four parts, scattered across the world-I mean, come on, did you really believe that?" Josephine giggled, finding it silly. Lucy shot her a glare.

"What do you mean?"

"As if I would ask her to kill."

"Oh, well it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her."

"But I knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son. I told her about the gun so she'd get me here at the right time."

"But you're still going to die."

"Don't you want to know what I was doing, traveling the world?"

"Tell me."

"I told a story. That's all. No weapons, just words-I did just what the Doctor said, I went across the continents, all on my own, and everywhere I went, I found the people and I told them my story...I told them about the Doctor. And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word, so that everyone would know about the Doctor."

"Faith and hope, is that all?" the Master mocked.

"No. 'Cause I gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said," Martha stood up, "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word at one specific time-"

"Nothing will happen! Is that your weapon-prayer?"

"Right across the world," Martha Jones continued, "one word, just one thought, in one moment. But with fifteen satellites."

"What?"

"The Archangel Network," Jack spoke up. Fear began to spread across the bond.

"A telepathic field, binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is 'Doctor'."

The countdown reached zero and the Doctor's cage filled with light.

"Stop it," the Master commanded. "No, no, no, no, no, you don't." The Doctor's name was whispered throughout the room and Jo flinched, from the memories connecting to that name and the anger that fell down to her. "Stop this right now. Stop it!"

Josephine covered her ears, mumbling to herself.

"I've had a whole year to tune myself in to the Psychic Network and integrate with its matrices," the Doctor told the Master.

"I order you to stop!"

:The one thing you can't do is stop them thinking," the old man turned back to the young Doctor. "Tell me the Human Race is degenerate now, when they can do this."

"NO!" The Master shot the laser at the light surround the Doctor.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Then I'll kill _them_." The Master pointed it away but the Doctor flung his hand out, the weapon flinging out of the Master's grip. "You can't do this. You can't do this! It's not fair!"

Jo almost whined, his fear pounding against her skull...but she didn't know if she could. She didn't know if she was allowed to make any more noise.

"And you know what happens now."

"No. No," the Master backed away, the Doctor moving forward, "No! NO!" Josephine clutched at her head.

"You wouldn't listen."

"No!"

"'Cause you know what I'm going to say."

"No!" he gasped. Josephine's knees hit the floor. The Doctor held the sobbing man.

"I forgive you."

"My children," the Master growled.

"Protect the Paradox. Protect the Paradox. Protect the Paradox."

"Captain! The Paradox machine!"

"You men, with me. You, stay here," Jack instructed.

"NO!" Josephine looked up, just in time to see the Master and the Doctor disappear.

-/JEL/-

Ullani smashed at the glass, knuckles dripping blood. She hoped they were ready.

Josephine's hair tipped white, eyes burning violet. The Mark spread across her skin.

-/JEL/-

Ullani and Josephine opened their eyes just as the Toclafane approached. She stood tall, unmoving as the Valiant shook. "Everyone get down!" a man shouted out, "Time is reversing!"

But she did not fall, she stepped towards the staircase and sat down. Her eyes watched the Humans and Time Lords. Her fingers trailed over her right hand. Ullani was pleased to find the Device that Josephine made still there, happy that the Master was cocky enough to believe she would never hurt him. She unlatched one of them, a dark grin unfolding across her face.

-/JEL/-

"The Paradox is broken! We've reverted back, one year and one day, two minutes past 8:00 in the morning," a man, the Doctor, announced. She turned, smiled at the sight of the man working. The Doctor amused Ullani to no end, the Time Lord, the oddest one she'd met.

"_This is UNIT Central. What happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!_"

"See? Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal."

_Not everything_, Jo and Ullani thought, fingers drumming on the staircase.

"Planet Earth, restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror-it never was."

"What about the spheres?" Martha asked.

_Ah, Martha Jones,_ she thought, _I like her. Amazing girl, really._

"Trapped at the end of the universe."

"But I can remember it," Martha's mother muttered.

"We're at the eye of the storm," the Doctor explained, "the only ones who'll ever know. Oh hello!" he ran to a man. "You must be _Mr. _Jones. We haven't actually met." The Master sprinted to the exit but Jack opened the door, revealing a gun.

"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party! , what do we do with this one?"

_I like him_, one girl thought.

_Just a friend though_, the other reminded.

"We kill him," Mr. Jones suggested.

"We execute him."

"No, that's not the solution."

_I beg to differ_, Ullani stood up slowly. _If he's still alive, then we're still bonded. And if we're still bonded...well, then he can still control us._

"You're my responsibility-"

_And mine,_ Ullani almost hissed that aloud.

"From now on-the only Time Lord left in existence."

_Well…_

"Yeah, but you can't trust him," Jack whispered.

"No," the Doctor agreed, "the only safe place for him is the TARDIS."

"You mean you're just going to...keep me?"

"Hmm. If that's what I have to do. It's time to change. Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for."

"Gun!" Jack exclaimed, pointing at Lucy. The lady in question was just about to shoot it too. They ran to her, taking it away from her. In the commotion she let out breath. Josephine raised her arm; Ullani stared at the Master…

And they flung their wrist.

-/JEL/-

A woman screamed and her ears dulled out. Ullani could feel the Mark spreading across her body, dripping red across the skin, the throb of death stinging her. The Master fell, the knife in his gut, wedged deeply between the skin. Someone grabbed her, holding her arms back. She stared blankly as the Master fell to the ground, cradled by the Doctor.

"We're the only two left...no one else," was the last voice she heard. _Not true_, Ullani whispered in her mind, receding to the back of her mind, back to the dark corners where only Ullani remembered.

Josephine though, sweet little human Josephine, could only hear something rip. A loud tear, ringing in her ears as two pieces fell apart.

-/JEL/-

Jack held her in his arms. It had been so long, so long since he'd touched or hugged her, said hello to her or anything. "Josephine," he whispered but no one replied. Jack turned the shaking woman around. He checked her eyes, they were blank, completely unresponsive. "Martha," Jack whispered, turning slightly to the girl.

"Hmm?"

"Something's wrong with Jo."

"Well of course there's something wrong with Jo, she just-"

"No, I mean, she's not responding at all."

Martha let go of her parents. She inched forward and cupped Josephine's face, her fingers lifted her eyes lids. They stared blankly back. Josephine's breath was shallow but she barely moved a muscle. "Jack...she needs to go to a hospital."


	16. He Didn't Look

**Chapter Fifteen: He Didn't Look**

The Doctor didn't look at her as the TARDIS landed outside their house. William and Yolanda Curtis stood outside in their bathrobes, fingers loosely laced together. Will wore his glasses and Yolanda wore her bunny slippers.

The Doctor didn't look at her as Jack and Martha walked the blank girl forward. Her dress was torn and tangling at her feet, her body trembled periodically, and her eyes were glazed, stuck in that purple shade. They shuffled her past the Curtises and into the large house. Josephine's fingers reached out, touching the dark brown door.

Door.

_Door_.

_Josephine's lips were wet with tears. She was silent the whole plane ride over, never looking at her uncle, never looking at her aunt, never looking back. The single rose still held between her fingers, grip so tight-she couldn't give it to them...she just couldn't. Their coffins were still etched into her minds...she couldn't get their pale and cut faces out of her head._

_Will took her hand, talking, leading the girl up the house. "I know everything doesn't seem okay right now, but, one day Josephine, it will." The girl didn't reply. Yolanda smiled at the girl and opened, cinnamon and sugar spilling out. _

"_Wh...what were you baking?"_

"_Cookies," Will smiled._

"_...Can...can I have one?"_

"_Yes."_

The Doctor didn't notice as she let out a whimper, eyes clenching tight as some memories bombarded her head. He just barrelled on with his explanation. "There was another Time Lord, his name was the Master."

"The Master?" Yolanda tightened her robe.

"You may have known him as Harold Saxon." They gasped.

"I should have known," Will stared but the Doctor held up his hands.

"It doesn't matter...Josephine killed him."

"What?" William gasped; Yolanda took his hand.

"The Master made her remember what she was trying to forget, I don't know how he did it, but she broke down and the adverse reaction made her a killer. I cannot have her on my TARDIS."

"Why?"

"The Time Lord was my responsibility-"

"_Josephine_ was your responsibility."

"And I can't take care of her," the Doctor finished. Yolanda scowled.

"Are you running?"

"What?"

"Are you," Yolanda stepped closer, poking a finger into his chest, "running away from what you caused?"

"Excuse me! I-"

"Because if you're running, Doctor, then I want you gone. I don't _ever_ want to see you here again."

"Let me explain-"

"Doctor," William's eyes narrowed, "if you can't accept the reality that _you _took her to that situation, that _you're_ the one who brought that man into her life, and that _you_ are a large factor in this, then I also want you gone."

"But-"

"Leave."

Josephine didn't look back as she was ushered to her room, fingers trailing against every object. She should've stopped, the memories would have been kept at bay, but she didn't...The Doctor didn't look as he stepped away, didn't look back at the Curtises or the Lewises, no he couldn't just felt so…

He didn't look as Martha Jones and Jack Harkness stepped back into the TARDIS, faces white and sweaty, worry reeking everywhere. No, he didn't look…

They just couldn't.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey, guys, update on chapter...like twelve-the one where she gets kidnapped. I realized I messed up posting the chapter so...Also thanks, TheDysfunctinoal, I really enjoyed your review. Sorry I made you cry, but, I'm also really happy. I like bringing up emotions in characters and I'm sorry Jo doesn't get a lot of parts. She's important but...not in this life. And I also cried a bit on the inside when I wrote all those flash backs-originally it didn't even have flash backs, but I thought'd show their relationship. Thanks!**


	17. Death of a Genius

**Chapter Sixteen: Death of a Genius**

Josephine turned onto her side in her bed. The soft white blankets covered only her waist and below. She wore a grey sweater and her purple eyes were wide. "Did you know men are six times more likely to get struck by lightning than women?"

Jack opened one eye to glance at Josephine, resting against the headboard of the bed. "Is that so?"

"And that French was the official language for England for over six hundred years and that Coca-Cola would be green if they didn't dye it?"

"Really?"

"And that an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain and that our eyes from birth never change size but our ears and nose are always growing? Did you know that about 2,500 left handed people die a year from equipment designed for right handed people? Did you know that only one person in two billion will live to be a hundred and sixteen or older? Jack, are you gonna be one of those people?"

"I don't know, Jo," Jack replied. Josephine frowned, looking down at the covers. Her fingers idly trailing underneath her pillow, wrapping around the handle. In a flash, Josephine pulled out the knife and plunged it into his chest, screaming out,

"Die already! I did what you asked! Now let me go!" she let go of the blade plunged into Jack, slumping forward and sobbing into her hands.

_You shouldn't have done that_, a calm voice chided.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" the girl cried, rocking back and forth. Beside her, a man gasped and the sickening slide of the blade pulling out echoed in the room. Arms wrapped around her, pulling the sobbing girl into them.

"Josephine," Jack soothed, rubbing at her arms, "You have to stop killing me. I'm real, I promise."

She shook her head. It was silent for a while, her tears wetting Jack's clothes and the little noises she made escaping her lips, before she looked back up at him. Her violet eyes were puffy, hair askew, and tear tracks drying a bit at the edges. "When will it stop? When will it _stop_?"

Jack didn't have an answer. Of course he didn't. How does one stop the hallucinations? Stop the screams, the scars from forming across her body? How do you stop the pain? How do you stop the hunger, the glazed eyes, the shaking, the trembling, the wobbling lips? Drugs won't help, talking won't help, opening up the past is just a ticket to hours of screaming and wounds needing to be cleaned? What do you do when there's nothing that can help?

_I can help_, the Princess's tempting voice curls at Josephine's senses.

_No you can't...you did this, you caused this, _the human reminded.

_Just open it up, just open the-_

_No! I said no!_

_But if you open the watch then-_

_I don't want to be lost! I don't want to die! I don't want to become one of you!_

_But, you don't understand. That's not what I'm trying to say-_

The door slammed closed. Jack wrapped a blanket around Josephine, laying her back down on the bed. He kissed her head, getting up, and headed for the door.

-/JEL/-

It's been like this for weeks.

-/JEL/-

"What's wrong Spaceman?" The Doctor glanced over. He'd been staring off into space again.

"Nothing."

Donna didn't believe him.

-/JEL/-

"So there I was, running away from the Nazis when I slipped and fell into a ditch!" Martha laughed, head thrown back as Jack told stories. Josephine sat on the bed, blankets cocooning her from the cold. She felt at peace, watching Jack and Martha act like everything was okay. It obviously was though, no, not with Josephine watching every tick of Martha's body, counting down the seconds, eyes glazing over as memories clouded her judgement, no, this wasn't real-or was it? No, no it couldn't be, the Doctor was obviously going to come back, kill the Martha girl-'cept she's not even real so it won't matter too much-and then Jack'll die and then Josephine will be next. The Doctor will come back, Josephine knows he will.

He'll probably kill Yolanda and Will too, of course, of course he will. He kills everyone in the simulations right, right? He kills everyone. When this ones over she'll just move on to the next one, always moving, in and out of simulation-right? Right? This isn't real, right?

Right?

Josephine wasn't sure.

_Kill her_, a dark voice whispered in her ears. It wasn't Ullani, no, Ullani's shouts banged against the walls, muffled. Josephine couldn't hear Ullani's voice, just this dark one.

_Kill her before she kills you!_ Josephine's eyes widened. She hadn't thought of that. What if they _were_ trying to kill her?

_So that's the Doctor's new plan_, Josephine thought, humming silently. _Well I'll just have to kill her won't I, that way, I can best the Doctor at his own game...Hmm...Yes, splendid idea, he can't get me this time._

_So then kill her!_

_But, _Josephine's clarity sunk in, _what if this is real?_

_No!_ the voice bombarded. _No! It's kill or be killed? Can't you see her eyes? They're evil! She's working with the Doctor!_

Fear gripped Josephine tight, pulling at her string, pushing her hands forward. "What about the sixties, Jack, meet anyone from then?" Martha asked, leaning forward. Jack smiled.

"Well, did I ever tell you about that time when…"

Josephine's fingers curled around her breakfast fork. They had french toast and bacon...The utensil was light but pointed enough to jab and stab-with enough force she could kill the enemy. Josephine slowly unraveled herself from the cocoon of blankets and slinked forward. Martha's head tilted back when she laughed, neck stretched and right for the taking. Josephine leaped, throwing her arm out. Jack lunged for Josephine pulling her away from the other woman and in doing so, altering the course of the weapon. It hit Martha, obviously, but it just the arm. Josephine struggled in his grip, writhing like she was being tickled.

Martha gasped, fingers reaching for her wound. She smeared the little droplets of blood and held them up, staring at the red color in a trance. Josephine stopped, eyes catching onto the shade of the blood. "That's not blood," she mumbled. Martha scowled.

"What do ya mean this isn't blood? Of course it's blood Josephine!" she pressed her napkin to the wound, stopping it from bleeding. "Ouch!"

Jack's grip tightened just a little when Jo sat up, still staring at Martha's arm. "I...I mean, that's not the blood."

"The blood?" Jack asked.

"From the simulations...it was darker, more tomatoey-that's not the blood," Jo looked from Jack to Martha to Jack. "This...this is real?"

Jack closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief, before he opened them again, a smile on his lips. Martha was shocked. He nodded, "This is real."

Jo stared at Martha. "Oh...sorry I stabbed you."

Martha stared at Jo. "It's okay, it'll heal up." Martha turned to Jack, "It's been weeks-when did she notice that _you_ were real."

"Oh, he's not," Josephine answered. She looked at Jack. "Nothing so impossible could ever exist." Martha smiled sadly at Jack. Josephine turned back to Martha. "You should go though."

"What? Why?"

"Because," Jo looked around the room, eyes staying at the door, "he could get back at any moment and kill you himself."

"Who?"

"The Doctor, he'll kill us all, so I suggest you run before he gets you too. You seem nice."

-/JEL/-

Martha didn't run, no, she just kept coming back. Every few days she'd join the Impossible Man and tell stories to Josephine. Jo would huddle under her blankets, eat a few bites of food, and smile sadly. She knew the Doctor would come, come to kill them all, she knew it was going to happen. The voices told her so and they're usually right.

When they weren't there, Will and Yolanda would play games with her or read stories to her aloud. Once, they even let Josephine into the kitchen to make a cake. Yolanda cried on her birthday because of that.

But the Doctor hadn't come and Jo was left to countdown the minutes, waiting for this odd silence would stop. Waiting for the explosion to come and take her-to put her in another simulation. Waiting for him but he wouldn't come.

At least not yet.

-/JEL/-

"Josephine," Martha whispered. The girl looked up, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes?"

"I'll be gone for a few days and I want you to stay inside, Will and Yolanda, too."

"Why? What's happened?" Martha moved a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Something's wrong with cars and I'll be busy, okay?"

Josephine nodded, but then stopped, hugging the blanket tighter, "Is it...okay...if I call you?"

Martha smiled, nodding, "Yeah! Yeah! Perfectly fine."

"Thanks."

-/JEL/-

Martha left an hour or two ago and Josephine was wide awake. She slowly slipped out her bed, stretching, and walked over to her mirror. The girl staring back was pale with purple eyes, so clear that they were almost white, and pink lips parted in its frown. Her hair fell down her back in a mess. Josephine stared and stared and stared at the girl before her. _Should I…_

_Yes_, a voice Josephine locked away long ago emerged, soft comfort curling around her spine. _You should_.

"Why?"

No one replied but Josephine nodded. Her fingers reached down and pulled off her shirt. She tugged down her shorts. Stripped herself from her undergarments and went to the bathroom. After her quick shower she came back out and pulled on a new pair of socks, underwear, and bra. Her fingers dragged her jeans up her legs and pulled a black and cream sweater on top of her collared tank. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and leaned forward, fingers reaching for the tube of lipstick. She painted her lips a deep red and applied mascara to her eyelashes. When she was done she slipped into her sneakers.

Her fingers slipped the device onto her wrist and she placed her daggers into each latch, sealing them with a click. Her hands searched for her prototype but realized that it was long gone-probably still demolished on the Valiant. Josephine's eyes scrunched up, knuckles shoved in her mouth as the memories breached the surface.

_Something else, think of something else_.

Josephine's eyes wandered, inspecting her room. _Where is it…_

-/JEL/-

"Ionising nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter, which means that Atmos works," the Doctor inspected the machine, "filters the CO2 at a molecular level."

"We know all that. But what's its origin? Is it alien?" the general asked.

"No, but it's decades ahead of its time. Look, do you mind? Could you stand back a bit?"

"Sorry. Have I done something wrong?"

"You're carrying a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me, all right?"

"If you insist." The man walked away.

"Tetchy," Martha remarked, arms crossed.

"Well, it's true."

"He's a good man."

"So was she," he mumbled, "People with guns are usually the enemy in my books. You seem quite at home."

"If anyone got me used to fighting, it's was you."

"Oh, right, so it's my fault. Well, you got me the job. And I heard that Doctor, she's got nothing to do with this. Besides look at me. Am I carrying a gun?"

"I suppose not."

"It's all right for you. You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. Some of us are left behind. So I've got to work from the inside. And by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better."

"Yeah?" The Doctor smiled, "That's more like Martha Jones."

"I learnt from the best."

"Weeeelllll." Martha's phone rang. The Doctor watched as Martha fumbled with the device.

"Yeah?" she greeted. Someone's filtered from the other side. "What's wrong?...What do ya mean by it's missing?...Well have you looked under the bed...in the bathroom?...How about by the couches?...I don't know, sweetie, where do you think it is?...No, no, listen to me, I don't think it's there...It's going to be fine, why do you need it right now?...Oh, I'm at one of the Atmos factories...No, just stay there, when this is done I'll help you find it...It's probably around the house, okay?...Okay, bye." Martha closed the phone.

"Your fiance?" the Doctor asked.

"Jo," Martha answered. The Doctor stared, his entire demeanor changing, becoming sadder. "She's doing-"

"Oi, you lot," Donna interrupted.

-/JEL/-

"My fob watch is missing...I mean, I can't find it...Yes...Yes, I've looked there...And there too...I think it's on the-on the TARDIS...I need it though...Oh, never mind, where are you?...Can I come? I need to get out of this house right now, Martha...But _Marthaaaa_...Fine, bye…"

Josephine hung up and stared at her reflection.

_He's...he's here_, the Princess's voice was soft, surprised.

"What do you mean _here_? And who's _he_?"

_The Doctor._

Josephine should have frozen at the name-but her mind was a buzz. The Doctor was here, so that meant the TARDIS was here, which meant the fob watch would be here. Josephine needed the fob watch...it was...her newest obsession, distracting her from her instability.

Josephine moved to her door, slipping out into the hall, slinking down the stairs, and out the door without a second thought.

-/JEL/-

She reached the factory by bicycle. Ullani's voice kept guiding her and Josephine followed without a thought. She wanted that fob watch and she wanted it _now_. She parked it just outside the base. _I can feel it_, Ullani told her.

_How?_

_It's singing to me, it's pulling at my hearts to come closer._

_Really?_

_Really._

Josephine walked forward, listening to each direction, until her legs stopped. The TARDIS stood tall and proud, blue glowing in happiness. Josephine stepped forward, marveling at it's forgotten beauty. Her hand reached up, uncertain, and touched the wood. It swooshed open, the door, warmth spilling out. The soft hum of the TARDIS reached her ears and the scent of apples filled her nostrils. Apples...Josephine loved apples.

The woman stepped forward, inside the homey place. Her fingers trailed along the walls, little memories brushing against her mind...these ones did not hurt. These memories soothed her fragile head, swayed her into bliss. Josephine smiled dopily.

_We've missed you_, the TARDIS told her.

"Yeah?" Josephine touched the console, fingers sliding against each nook and crany.

_He doesn't talk about it...but he misses you._

Josephine's smile dropped, unable to keep the harsh cold of "Doctor" from her mind.

_The real Doctor misses you, the other ones...they aren't real._

Josephine's eyes teared up. She nodded.

-/JEL/-

The door opened and Josephine looked up as a ginger woman came in. She was coughing and some white fog came in with her. She closed the door in her coughing fit, leaning against the railing for a moment. The woman looked up. "Who the hell are you?" she exclaimed. Josephine continued to stoke the TARDIS.

"Josephine, what's your name?"

"Donna, Donna Noble, how did you get on the TARDIS?"

"It opened for me," the girl smiled. She walked over and took Donna's hand. "Nice to meet you Donna."

"Wait...wait, what do you mean it opened for you? Who are you!"

"Josephine, I told you that already, and as for the door...it likes me."

"Wait...wait, wait, wait a moment," Donna pointed a finger at Jo, "You're one of his companions aren't you? Like Martha?"

"Martha?" her head snapped over to the ginger lady. "Where's Martha?"

"So you _do_ know the Doctor!" Josephine flinched.

"You...you could say that."

"So what are you doing here? Why'd you come onto the TARDIS? Why doesn't the Doctor know about this?"

"I'm looking for my pocket watch and we, uh, we didn't part on the best of terms." Josephine turned away from the other woman.

"What doya mean?"

"It, it doesn't matter," Jo decided, "I'll get what I came for and I'll be off the ship before you know it."

"How do I know I can trust you," Donna's eyes narrowed.

"You can't."

The TARDIS shook, startling the women. They gave each other mirrored looks and headed for the door. Donna opened the door and peered out, silently, and Josephine followed suit. They closed the door after getting a good look at their enemies. They looked at each other.

-/JEL/-

"_Calling the Sontaran command ship under the Jurisdiction 2 of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is the Doctor."_

Donna turned to the voice while Josephine tensed in her spot. He brought dark memories to surface, chills raking her spine. She shivered. "Doctor, I'm here! Can you hear me?"

"_So, tell me General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?..."_ the Doctor began to talk with their captors, Sontarons. His hair was more ruffled than ever and his blue suit reminded her of the day they met back in the hospitals. "**What are you going to do now?" **He had asked her, motioning to her bedridden self. Josephine sighed. "_Well, as prizes go, that's noble. As they say in Latin, __**dona nobis pacem**__._"

"That's me, I'm here!" Donna replied to the screen.

"_Did you never wonder about its design? It's a phone box. It contains a phone, a telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like, if only we could communicate, you and I._"

"_All you've communicated it stress Doctor…_"

"Oh my God!" Donna reached for a cell phone, flipping it open.

"_Big mistake though, showing it to me._"

"But who do I phone?"

"'_Cause I've got a remote control._"

"Doctor, what number are you on?" Donna yelled but the Doctor disappeared from sight. "You haven't even got a number!"

The TARDIS shook once more. Josephine wrapped her arms around the confused woman.

"But what do I do?"

"Call your family," Jo soothed. "I'm going to get what I needed...I'll be back in a moment." Donna nodded, sitting down.

-/JEL/-

Josephine entered her room, the splatters of green and blue paint still slightly fresh. Jo smiled, taking in the whiteness. Math equations were covered with paint, the markers still in a mess, and Jo could see from her open bathroom that there was still water from her insane spill with the TARDIS. Josephine spotted the fob watch easily, sprinting forward, and jumped on her bed. She flopped onto the bed, fingers scrambling to grasp the small object. She pulled it forward eagerly, soothed at the low song humming from it.

_Why is this so important right now?_

_This is what I was trying to to tell you earlier_, Ullani's voice was louder. _Open it and…_

_And you'll take over?_

_Open it and we'll be whole_, the Princess corrected. _Open it and we'll be normal and we'll be able to protect ourselves._

_Will I die?_

_In a sense, do you remember when the Doctor became John Smith?_

_Yes, what about it?_

_He remembered everything about his time as human and the same will be true for us._

_Yeah?_

_Yeah._

_So why do you care so much about the watch? _Josephine Erica Lewis asked. _I mean, I understand that the rest of you and our biology is in there...but you seem excessively urgent to get that back._

_Our bond is in that watch. The whole thing, the Bond, it's trapped in there and so is our chance for clarity._

"Clarity?" Josephine asked, fingering the button at the top.

_Chameleon arcs don't work on Aderlows exactly. They can only take one part of us. I put in half of our bond and enough biology to mask you as human. I can...theoretically make us whole and transfer the insanity into your head._

_Yeah? And then we'll just leave it there?_

_No, no, Josephine, we can't run from this. We'll slowly fix this._

"Yeah?"

_Yeah. _

Josephine pressed down on the watch. It flicked open, golden light escaped. Josephine Erica Lewis was mesmerized as she became whole.

-/JEL/-

Josephine was smiling. She stood up straighter, walked better, and her head was completely clear. No headaches, no looming memories, and no pain, she felt like she was reborn. And she was. She was finally whole and she was right, everything was better once she opened the fob watch.

She sauntered down the halls and headed for the command room. She couldn't find Donna; she frowned, hoping to talk with the woman more freely. Josephine shrugged and headed for the door. She opened it and a large bang cried out as pain flared in Josephine's left heart. She staggered back, barely registering the Sontaran soldier before the door slammed shut. The TARDIS shuddered as it moved.

Josephine gripped at her chest, scrambling from the ground. "Oh my god that hurts," she groaned. Josephine staggered towards the consoles. "Ouchhhhhies."

She looked down at her hands as they began to glow. "Awww maaaannn, I really _liked _this regeneration," she whined. She coughed, breath staggering. The glow swam across her skin, the Bond-she felt-dripped golden tears across her skin as it began to change. The smell of apples turned to cantaloup as her nose changed. The coral walls grew brighter as her eyes changed shapes. The sounds of the TARDIS became softer as her ears morphed. She felt her hair become shorter, felt her her body get taller. The paralysis disappeared and the scars on her body lifted, went like dust in the universe.

When it was over, Josephine's clothes felt a little too loose, her bra too small, and the lipstick tasted funny on her tongue. She smeared off the back of her hand and reached up to twist her fingers in the short hair that grew there. She smiled. And tried out her new voice. "Hello! Hellllooo. Hullo. Heeeiill-o." She giggled. "Oh, I've got to go see myself!" She ran off to her room.

-/JEL/-

"How are they?" Martha's voice startled Josephine. She totally forgot.

"I have to tell the Doctor!" she hissed at herself, hitting her face with her hand. "Such an idiot!"

"Oh...same old stuff," Donna told them. "They're fine. So, you gonna come with us? We're not exactly short of space."

"Oh, I have missed all this, but, you know...I'm good here, back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides, someone needs me. And I've got to go help Jo find her watch. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now."

Josephine smiled, stepping out into the room, but only heard the doors shut before it began to shake. "Martha!" Josephine cried, falling to the ground, arms flailing.

"What? What?" the Doctor glanced from the unknown girl to the operating TARDIS.

"Doctor, don't you dare!" Martha shouted.

"Oh my god, my _head_," Jo whined, rolling on the floor.

"No, no, I didn't touch anything!" he looked up, "We're in flight! It's not me!"

"Why the hell does he have the brakes on?" Josephine grumbled from her spot on the floor, hearing the racket of the TARDIS for the first time.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know. It's out of control!"

"Doctor, just listen to me! You take me home!" Martha demanded. "Take me home right now!"


	18. Yigur

**Chapter Seventeen: Yigur**

"What the hell is he doing?" Donna gasped as the TARDIS lurched. Josephine scrambled to her feet and flipped at the controls.

"The controls aren't working," the Doctor groaned before a spark blew him back. Jo tried anyway. "I don't know where we're going, but my old hands very excited about it."

"Old hand?" Jo wondered, absentmindedly, twisting gears. "Why the hell does he have an old hand?"

"I thought that was just some freak alien thing."

"In some cultures it is," Jo piped up, leaning towards the consoles. Martha glanced at the brunette.

"Are you sure that it's yours?"

"Well…"

"It got cut off," Martha explained. "He grew a new one."

"You are completely impossible."

"That he is," Josephine laughed. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the voice.

"And who are _you_!" before turning to Donna. "I'm not impossible. Just a bit unlikely." The TARDIS gave one last lurch before it stopped, throwing Donna and Martha to the ground while Josephine straightened herself up. She sighed, slipping her short hair behind her ear. They panted for a moment before the Doctor stood up and dragged Josephine up to a wall, pinning her there. "Who are you!" Josephine rolled her eyes.

"You've forgotten me already? That's so rude Doctor."

"I said," his grip tightened, "how are you? Why did you bring us here."

"You think I brought you here!" she gasped. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, you tell me!"

"You," Donna pointed a finger at Jo. "You're...you're wearing that other girl's clothes-where did she go? What did you do to her?"

Martha and the Doctor turned to Donna and asked, "What other girl?"

Donna began to mumble to herself, trying to remember the name. "It began with a J...uh, Joanna? No-no that's not right, it sounded really pretty. Oh what was it! Oh!" Donna blinked, snapping her fingers. "Josephine."

Martha gasped. "Oh my god." The Doctor stared at the girl against the wall. She smiled, fingers wiggling in hello.

"You missed me?" The Doctor's hand flung away like they were burned, stepping away from Josephine.

"What? What...what are you?"

"How is that even possible?" Martha breathed.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on," Donna asked. Josephine slipped her hand into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out the watch. She presented it to Martha and the woman gasped.

"The watch! You told me about that-in nineteen seventy something!"

"Nineteen seventy six to be exact."

The Doctor turned to Martha, outraged. "You _knew_ about this!?"

"I-it was...she told me in a letter and then I forgot about it-I'm sorry!"

The Doctor turned back to Jo. "You! How long have you known, who are you?"

"Weillllllll…"

"Josephine," he snarled, eyes angry.

"One word, Doctor," she grinned, leaning in close. "Aderlow."

He tensed, body seizing up at the term. She grinned, patted his shoulder, and rushed to the door.

"'Cmon! Let's go find out why we're here!" she chirped.

-/JEL/-

The Doctor still looked flustered when he exited the TARDIS, Martha and Donna trailing behind. Josephine was tracing one of the objects. "Why did the TARDIS bring us here?"

"Oh, I love this bit."

"Agreed," Josephine nodded.

"I thought you wanted to go home."

"I know, but all the same...It's that feeling you get."

"Like you swallowed a hamster," Donna agreed. There's was a clatter before,

"Don't move. Stay where you are! Drop your weapons!" a man approached, cocking his gun.

"We're not armed." They held up their arms. "Look, no weapons, never any weapons. We're safe."

"Look at their hands. They're clean."

"Alright," one decided, "Process them. Him first." Two soldiers came forward, grabbing the Doctor and pushing him towards a machine. Josephine's fingers laced together behind her back, swaying back and forth, restraining herself from throwing one of her knives.

"Wait! Oi! What's wrong with clean hands?"

"What's going on? Leave him alone." The Doctor's hand was thrown into the hole.

"Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure-" he broke off with a howl.

"What are you doing to him?"

"Everyone gets processed," the soldier replied.

"It's taking a tissue sample. Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"I don't remember those hurting so much," Josephine muttered to Martha.

"You've done one of those?"

"Centuries ago, my grandmother used to take me traveling for a while."

"An extrapolator here. Some kind of accelerator?" The Doctor was released from the machine and he stumbled back, inspecting her bloodied hand. Josephine stepped forward, taking his palm and allowed her regeneration energy to heal the wound. He stared at her.

"Are you alright?" Martha asked. Donna and her inspecting his hand. Jo let go, taking a step back.

"I don't know," he mumbled, staring at the machine. "That's…" The door opened and out of the fog came a blonde girl. She wore a green shirt and leather pants. _The daughter will save her father_. Josephine sighed, the vision humming in her ears. Josephine couldn't wait to find out what _that_ meant.

"Arm yourself," the soldier told her, handing Jenny a gun.

"Where did she come from."

"From me."

"From you? How? Who is she?"

"Well, she's…well...she's my daughter." Josephine hummed, looking up and down at the girl. _And doesn't she look __**fiiinnneee**_, the woman thought, staring at the those brilliant eyes.

"Hello, Dad."

Josephine giggled.

-/JEL/-

"Are you primed to take orders, ready to fight?"

"Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocol, sir," the girl replied. "Generation 5000 soldier, primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready."

_Oh god, if sex was this strategic and serious, I'd do it. I'd do it a lot._

"Did you say daughter?"

"Mmm. Technically."

"Technically how?"

"Progenation," Josephine answered. The Doctor nodded.

"Reproduction from a single organism," he explained. "It means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement and grow, very quickly, apparently."

"Something's coming," Jenny announced. This time, Josephine reached for her knives, but the Doctor's hand stopped her, not even looking at her as she paused. She relaxed and dropped her arms.

"It's the Hath!"

"Get down!" The Doctor ushered us down beside the crates. Jo hid with Martha, shielding the other girl with her body as gunfire increased.

"We have to blow the tunnel. Get the detonator!"

"We're not detonating anything!" the Doctor shouted. The Hath grabbed Martha and I, pulling as back. Martha struggled but Jo only glanced up, surprised at the creature.

"Grab it! Blow the thing!"

"Martha!" the Doctor shouted. "Josephine!" An alarm blared before white sparks stretched across their eyes.

-/JEL/-

Josephine woke up first, chest hurting, but anything damaged healed quickly. She sat up, brushing debris off her clothes. The girl turned to Martha, nudging the girl awake. Martha sat up panting before noticing the gurgling noise. The girl both crawled for the struggling Hath. "Hold on. We've got you," Jo cooed, rubbing his back. Martha looked at his arm.

"Is it your arm, yeah?"

The creature moaned.

"Is that a yes."

"Yes Martha, it's a yes," Jo loosely translated. The creature nodded.

"Let me examine it. Keep still. Still yeah." Martha motioned with her hands. "No move."

The Hath nodded.

"Half fish, half human. How am I supposed to know? Is that a shoulder?"

It whined.

"Feels like a shoulder."

"Yeah," Jo explained, reaching over to guide Martha's hands, "it's mostly human."

"I think it's dislocated." The sound of the door opening was heard before more Hath appeared, pointing their guns. Jo and Martha held up their hands.

"I'm trying to help him."

It moved its gun threateningly.

"I am a doctor and he is my patient. And I'm not leaving him."

Josephine looked up at the gurgling creature. She could sorta understand what he was saying. Her Hath was extremely rusty. She made a gurgling noise that sounded roughly like, "She good doctor, no she harm," to them and, "Hurrrgralinguala-u-irrrr," to Martha. The woman gaped before turning back to the Hath.

"Know this is gonna hurt. One, two, three!" The squelching noise caused the Hath to cock their guns again, red alert at the strange humans. Martha's hands were raised as were Jo's. The other Hath raised his hands up too, placating the others. They lowered their weapons and the girls got up. "Now the, I'm Dr. Martha Jones and this is Josephine Erica Lewis. Who the hell are you?"

Josephine leaned towards Martha. She pointed at the Hath the just healed. "Well that's Jeremy," and then she turned the one that was pointing a gun at them, "And that's Grzgorz."

-/JEL/-

"So...Josephine…"

"Yes?"

"What...what happened?"

"Oh?" she turned to Martha, nodding, "I didn't tell you did I?"

"All you did for an explanation was present the watch and said some weird word."

"Ah, yes, well, you see, I'm not exactly human."

"I figured, y'know with the new face and everything."

"Yes, well I'm not exactly a Time Lord like the Doctor or the Master."

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean that I'm Gallifreyan-that's where we're from-but I'm a subspecies."

"Subspecies?"

"Yes," Jo hummed, walking along with the Hath. They were taking them to their base. "The Time Lords called us Aderlows-it's a slur."

"And you call yourself an Aderlow." Jo nodded.

"It's supposed to be a slur but really we embraced it proudly, we were special."

"Hold on," Martha stopped, turning to the other. "The Doctor has two hearts-do you have two hearts?"

"One heart and a smaller heart," Jo explained. "We only got some of Time Lord abilities but they were all underdeveloped in a sense. Half regenerations, half hearts, half privileged, it goes on."

"So what makes you so special?"

Josephine smiled, presenting her wrist. She tapped at the skin twice until a little black line appeared. It grew across her wrist. "This."

"What's that?"

"A Bond."

"A bond?"

"It's the only thing we got that the Time Lords never did. We're able to Bond our bodies, minds, and souls with one another and share all of the abilities. Bond Mates tend to be very powerful."

"Wow…"

-/JEL/-

When they reached the Hath base camp, Grzgorz held up a hand and told them to meet their new friend. They began to approach Martha and Josephine. Jo smiled while Martha got uncomfortable. Jo leaned into the other woman, "They just want to cuddle you. They think we're adorable." Martha waved at some of them and was shocked when they petted her hair and touched her shoulders. Josephine leaned into their warmth.

"Yurrrgggllle," she told them. It meant "Hi, there."

"So cute," Jeremy smiled. It sounded like, "Hurrrggrieellllurrrnn."

-/JEL/-

Martha inspected the hologram map. "Well this looks fun," Jo mumbled. Her mind was preoccupied by Jeremy's warming hug. He was a huge cuddler.

The others gurgled around her.

"RIght, so we're here?" Martha guessed. The others sighed. Josephine snuggled into Jeremy.

The map frizzled and new tunnels appeared.

"Hold on. Look! Look, Josephine!"

"I'm looking."

"That's a new map. There's a different set of tunnels." Grzgorz raised his arms, saluting the other Hath. They all raised their guns. "But I didn't do anything." The Hath patted Martha on her shoulder and Josephine got up from Jeremy. "I think I just started a war."

"Good job Einstein."

-/JEL/-

Martha's phone rang. The girl flipped it open and placed it on speaker. "Doctor?"

"_Martha, you're alive! Is Josephine there, too?"_

"I'm surprised you cared," Josephine cooed. "Thank you for asking Doctor, I feel fabulous-"

"Doctor! Oh, am I glad to hear your voice. Are you alright?"

"_I'm with Donna. We're fine. What about you?"_

"_And...and Jenny. She's fine, too."_ Donna added. Josephine smiled.

"_Yes, alright. And...and...Jenny. That's the woman from the machine, the soldier. My daughter. Except she isn't, she's…"_ Josephine groaned, rolling her eyes. "_Anyway, where are you?"_

"We're at the Hath camp. We're okay, but something going on. The Hath are all marching off to some place that's appeared on this map thing."

"Martha's _magic_," the girl in question nudged Jo.

"_Oooiiiooohhh. That was me. If both armies are heading that way, there's gonna be a bloodbath."_

"Oh, fun."

"_No it's not Josephine."_

"What do you want me to do?"

"_Just stay where you are. If you're safe there, don't move, do you hear?"_

"But we can help." The call disconnected. "Doctor? Doctor?"

"Oh he's complete _rubbish_," Jo groaned.

-/JEL/-

"I need to charge it up. I need power. Do you understand?" Martha turned to Jeremy, presenting her phone. The Hath slid the hologram a little and the map began to change. "There's even more. In 3D! Oh, you're a clever Hath!"

Jeremy gurgled and Josephine giggled.

"So this is where everybody's headed?" Martha guessed; Jo hummed.

"The tunnels zig-zag so that means there's more levels. If we went up and headed straight for it, then we'd reach it first." Jeremy shook his head.

"Why not?" Martha asked. The Hath pulled up another chart.

"Surface readings...not too bad. Nitrogen and oxygen about 80-20."

"That's good," Martha agreed.

"Ozone levels are high and some big radiation spikes-"

"But we won't be out there too long." Jeremy gurled. Jo smiled, patting his shoulder. "We have to find our friends." Martha pulled away, taking Jo with her. They looked back.

"Griggurlguurr," translated to, "Can I...can I come with?"

"Come on, then," Martha grinned, Jo holding out her hand. The Hath grasped it tightly, smiling the only way they could-with a gurgle.

-/JEL/-

"How...how did you die?" Jo looked over at Martha.

"Got shot-I think Sontaran, not really sure. It hurt like hell, though."

-/JEL/-

Jeremy fell behind as the two women ran eagerly up the steps. They looked back. The Hath shook his head, arms waving out as a clear sign of 'no'. "Hurgle," as in, "I can't."

"You can stay down here and live your whole life in the shadows or come with me and stand in the open air, feel the wind on your face. What's it gonna be?"

"Kurrrnigle," Jo coaxed, "Please, come with us."

"It's up to you, but nothing's gonna stop me," Martha continued. She leaped up the rest of the stars, only to push at the heavy door. Josephine helped and cold air brushed their heads. Martha got out first, Jo following behind, Jeremy behind her, and onto the freezing and dark surface. Josephine shucked off her sweater and threw it on the other girl-not as affected by the cold. Martha laughed, taking in the city, "I knew you couldn't resist it."

"Griengleurggleyingle," Jeremy exclaimed, "Fuck yeah!"

"Language!" Jo smacked his arm.

"Come on!" Martha ran ahead, anxious to get to their destination.

-/JEL/-

"God I never appreciated this!" Jo laughed, racing forward. Martha followed behind, Jeremy trailing after her.

"Why didn't you? Why didn't you like it?"

"Oh, I loved it-I was just very odd about that. I mean my entire wiring was completely messed up and my memories were all gone-talking to strangers was worrisome. I just...didn't like to be around people. And you and the Doctor-you two were fantastic!"

"And the insanity-what happened to that?"

"Later," Jo pushed, "it's not really important right now-people to save, places to go, we'll talk about it back at the TARDIS." Martha nodded and they trudged along.

"It can't be much further." The black haired woman stumbled, tripping, falling down a hill.

"Martha!"

"Ah!" She landed in some kind of pool of black liquid or ooze. Jeremy and Josephine rushed down the hill. "Help me! I'm sinking! I'm sinking! Help me peg!" Jeremy reached forward. "Help me! Help me! Help me peg!" Jo held his arm, helping him lean forward. "Help! I'm sinking!" Martha began to whine. Jeremy stood up and jumped in.

"Jeremy!" He helped pull Martha to the edge and Jo hauled the other woman up, dragging her to the surface. Jo reached for Jeremy too and Martha scrambled to her feet. They yanked Jeremy forward.

"No! No, don't fall in!"

Josephine gave one final tug and he landed on the ground safely. Martha cried, tears of relief and shock and that near death experience that you get rushing to the surface as she clung to Jeremy. He patted her on the back, rubbing her shoulders. Jo teared up too, scared that she almost lost them. "Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Jo sighed, head resting at Jeremy's neck.

"Gur, gur, gur, yigur," he soothed, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, everything's better now." Jo smacked him, gurgling,

"You idiot! Don't do that again!" or "Hiengrol! Hygrolurgledingle!"

-/JEL/-

Martha couldn't stop crying, even after they made it over the biggest ridge and spotted their destination. They stumbled into the building, Jo finally feeling the cold. "I _really _hope the Doctor got this far."

Martha nodded, "Agreed."

-/JEL/-

"Doctor!" Martha shouted, Jeremy and Josephine entered behind them.

"Martha!" they hugged. "Josephine! Oh, I should've known you wouldn't stay away from all the excitement." Martha reached for Donna.

"Donna!"

"Ooh, you're filthy." Donna mumbled. The Doctor turned to Jo.

"You!"

"Me!" she chirped, wrapping him in her arms. "God, I don't think I've ever really had one of your hugs before-you're warm!"

He pulled her to arm's length, "You! I'm going to have a conversation with you!"

"Latter!" she grinned, pushing him aside to hug Donna herself.

"What happened?" the ginger asked.

"I took the surface route," Martha mumbled. Jeremy gurgled as Jo took his hand. There was noise in the distance.

"That's the General," the Doctor explained. "We haven't got much time."

"We don't even know what we're looking for."

"Is it me or can you smell flowers?"

"Yes."

Josephine grinned,"Bougainvillea-I could identify that smell from anywhere!"

"I say we follow our nose," the Doctor suggested, leading their gang up the steps. They made their way to a garden. Jo's fingers trailed across each plant, feeling their green leaves between her fingers. "Oh, yes!" the Doctor was beaming. "Yes! Isn't this brilliant?"

"Magnificent," Jo echoed. He placed his jacket on one of the tables.

"Is that the source?" Donna asked, pointing at the pale green sphere.

"It's beautiful," Jenny was in awe. Jo turned to her.

"Knew I liked this one."

"Just on that?" the Doctor mocked.

"What is it?"

"Terraforming." He took a look closer. "It's a third-generation terraforming device."

"So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?"

"That's what a terraforming device does, Donna," Josephine explained.

"Furignle," Jeremy whispered, "Is it dangerous."

"Gir," Jo hushed back, "No."

"All this, only bigger, much bigger. It's in transit state," the Doctor added. "Producing all this must help keep it stable before they find…" The Hath busted into the room just as the humans did. The Doctor held up his arms. "Stop! Hold your fire!"

"What is this, some kind of trap?" General Cobb, Jo presumed, asked.

"You said you want this war over."

"I want this war won!"

"You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here." He turned to the Hath. "Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on." He presented the orb. "This is the source. This is what you're fighting over, a device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gasses, a cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you. It's not for killing. It's for bringing life. If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight." Josephine stared in awe. _He has __**such **__an amazing voice._ "No more fighting, no more killing." He took the source off of the pedestal, "I'm the Doctor and I declare this war is over," and smashed it onto the ground.

Bright green light escaped, spilling out and spreading into the air. It reached for the skies, welcoming the barren world with a sigh. The soldiers from both sides laid down their weapons. "Amazing isn't it?" she whispered to Jeremy.

"Hurg," he smiled, "Yes."

Jenny, beautiful Jenny, stepped towards her father. "What's happening?"

"The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process."

"What does that mean?"

"It means a new world," he explained. She laughed before she stopped.

"No!" Josephine only blinked before the gunshot rang out. The woman flinched, remembering her last regeneration's death.

"Jenny. Jenny. Talk to me, Jenny." The Doctor cradled his daughter in his arms. _The daughter will save her father_. Martha rushed to the girl, checking her wounds.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Martha shook her head, Jeremy held Jo into his chest. The Hath and Humans were silent as the dying girl looked up to the sky.

"A new world," she whispered, eyes shiny with tears, "It's beautiful."

"Jenny, please hold on. You need to hold on, do you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me, eh? Eh?" Josephine teared up. "We can go anywhere. Everywhere. You choose."

She smiled. "That sounds good."

"You're my daughter and we've only just got started. You're gonna be great. You're gonna be more than great. You're gonna be amazing. Do you hear me, Jenny?" Jenny's eyes closed. The Doctor rested his lips on her forehead, breath escaping rapidly past his lips. He looked up. "Two hearts. Two hearts just like me."

Jo looked over, "Like me, too." His eyes bore into hers, hopeful. Josephine dropped to the floor, inspecting the girl for herself. She touched her wrist, her neck, her collarbone, hoping there'd be some sign of Bond. There could be a bond-she could be an Aderlow. The Doctor could be a descendent of an Aderlow-the genes could be passed on through generations and not take effect. Aderlow regeneration could sometimes take place after death. Aderlows have marks. Jo scratched at her skin, desperate to find a mark. This could make the Doctor happy, this could make him forgive her.

"If we wait, we just wait…"

"There's no sign Doctor," Martha shook her head. "There's no regeneration. She's like, but maybe not enough."

"No. Too much," he corrected. "That's the truth of it. She was too much like me." The Doctor cradled her for another moment, pushing Josephine's hands aside. He slowly placed her on the ground, kissing her on her forehead before he looked over at Cobb. The Doctor got up. Josephine turned to the girl and leaned down, pressing her own lips to Jenny's cheeks. Soft golden regeneration energy escaped her lips. Jo smiled, leaning towards the girl's ear.

"Wake up," she whispered, another tendril of yellow slipping into her ear. Josephine got up, turning to watch the Doctor. He grabbed a gun and pointed it at Cobb, panting.

He leaned down, "I never would." He glared at the older man. "Have you got that? I never would." He stood up. "When you start this new world, this world of Human and Hath, remember that! Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!" His yells held raw power, staring into the eyes of everyone's. The Doctor threw aside his gun, sitting back down by Jenny.

-/JEL/-

They moved her to another room. Jenny laid on a clothed table, Human and Hath and Aderlow and Time Lord standing around her. Clear light shined through the windows. "It's happening. The terraforming."

"Build a city nice and safe underground, strip away the topsoil, and there it is," Donna agreed.

"And what about Jenny?"

"Let us giver her a proper ceremony," the human suggested, "I think it would help us. Please."

The Doctor nodded.

-/JEL/-

"Jenny was the reason for the TARDIS bringing us here. It just got there too soon, which then created Jenny in the first place. Paradox. An endless paradox," the Doctor mused.

_I just wanted you to save Jenny, _the TARDIS hummed in Josephine's mind. She almost grinned, not wanting to ruin their sad moment. _She'll wake up in a few hours or so._

"Time to go home."

"Yeah, home," Martha smiled. Josephine hugged the woman as the Doctor pulled down the lever, the TARDIS ringing out.

-/JEL/-

Martha and Donna walked out first. Josephine trailed behind with the Doctor. "Was she any…?"

"No," he shook his head, "None of that in my family."

"That's unfortunate," Josephine sighed.

"When…" he looked over, "When are you going to explain?"

"Once we say bye to Martha."

"You're not going to explain it to her?"

"She knows the basics." They reached Martha.

"Good luck," she told Donna.

Donna smiled. "And you." Josephine, Martha, and the Doctor continued on.

"We're making a habit of this."

"Yeah, and you'd think it'll get easier."

"I swear the TARDIS is like a drug," Jo muttered.

"All those things you've been ready to die for. I thought for a moment there you'd finally found something worth living for."

"Oh, there's always something worth living for, Martha." Martha hugged the Doctor.

"Bye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, Dr. Jones." The Doctor turned away, heading back to Donna.

Martha grabbed Jo, pulling her into her arms. "Are you staying? I have so many questions."

"I...I don't think I will be-you have my number," Jo whispered grasping her tight.

"Be careful."

"I will."

Jo smiled, kissed her cheeks, and raced back over to the Doctor.

-/JEL/-

The Doctor sat down and Donna leaned against the walls. Jo stood. The Doctor stared at her. "What?" she asked, unsure what his gaze was asking.

"Explain," he waved his hand.

"Oh! Oh, right. What do you want to know?"

"What are you?" Donna piped up.

"A subspecies of Gallifreyan called Aderlows," the Doctor explained.

"The title itself is a slur but yes, I'm an Aderlow. We're very similar-" The Doctor made a sound of protest. "-in the sense that we have two hearts, can regenerate, and survive in many conditions."

"To a lesser degree," he added.

"To a lesser degree." Jo rolled her eyes. "Our second hearts are smaller, we only regenerate six or seven times, and we don't last as long in said harsh conditions. Time Lords get to see the Untempered Schism-a tear in the fabric of time-but we get a Bond."

"A bond?"

"It's like…" the Doctor paused, trying to figure out how to explain it, "It's like soul mates and it's this mark on their skin-that's their bond."

"Weilll," Jo squinted, head swaying a bit, "It's actually a _Bond_. Like two minds, bodies, and souls merging as one-not necessarily "soul mates" but just two people, often in love, who wanted to become joined. Bond Mates are actually very powerful because abilities and skills are shared. Aderlows," Josephine leaned against a railing, "were only prized in Gallifreyan society for their Bonds. If you bonded with one, you immediately became high in class due to the enhanced abilities."

"Okay…"

"Aderlows only came up to the surface during Bonding Season-"

"The surface?" Donna asked, stepping forward. "What doya mean by "surface"?"

"I mean, we lived underground."

"_Underground_?!"

"The Aderlow race were unheard of for millennia," the Doctor explained, "they lived down below for quite sometime. They adapted and changed to accommodate their surroundings."

"Thus the differences between Aderlows and Time Lords."

Donna nodded, leaning back against the wall. The Doctor sat forward.

"What I don't understand, is how _you _survived. They all died, Time Lords and Aderlows alike, I was there."

"Oooohhhh, so _you're_ the one who did it." She nodded, taking that in. The ache of her people dying blossomed at her Bond. "I escaped very early on in the Time War."

"Really? Why would they do that?"

"I was higher class."

"Who _are_ you?"

"Really Doctor? You couldn't recognize me as a human? Literally all that changed facial wise was my hair color."

"What was it before?" his face scrunched up, trying to figure it out.

"It was really long? I was a lot paler with it-all of my marks probably distracted you-it was white?" The Doctor's eyes widened.

"Nnoooo! No!" he stood up, leaned in close to Josephine. "No! Really? Really!"

"Would someone please tell me who she is," Donna shouted, confused.

Josephine bowed. "Princess Ullanierllyizkquwazi, Ullani short, at your service."

"A Princess!"

"You!"

Josephine smiled.

-/JEL/-

They sat in the kitchen as Donna made pasta. "A Princess?" Donna turned the tomato sauce.

"She was their most powerful Princess," the Doctor explained, in awe as well. "The only Aderlow to ever look at the Schism as well-she snuck in there one day, took a glance, and continued on. A seer right?"

"A bit, I didn't see much, just a glimpse but it was enough to tell me the most important stuff and see the future."

"Wow!"

"She was engaged to the Gallifreyan leader-they were supposed to be the strongest Bond Pair in history."

"Thank goodness we never got to that."

"What do you mean?" Donna looked over, "Were they a slob?"

Jo chuckled, resting her head on her palm. "I just didn't want to Bond with someone I didn't love-it felt wrong. Once you forge a Bond, you can't destroy it, not even in death."

"Wait, but, the Master," he pointed out, taking a sip of his water, "You and the Master were-"

"Partially bonded," Jo explained. "And Bonds aren't _just _created through sex."

"Who did you sleep with?" Donna asked, brow raising, "And what do you mean partial bonds?"

"This guy-look, I could have thousands of partial bonds, each with varying in intensity. With the Master I had a strong partial bond."

"So _that's _why he wanted you so badly?" the Doctor rested his chin his hand. "Really? How did he even know what you were? _I_ didn't even know what you were."

"My amnesia Doctor," she explained. "He had a leeway of about eighteen months when he got stuck between those two points of time."

"Oh my...I am...I am so sorry."

Jo sighed. "I'm better now."

"So that's why you…"

"Yes, I took control for a moment and severed the partial bond. It was the only thing that could truly save me. I thought that human me's mind was healed enough to hold until I could open the watch, but I wasn't."

"So you were unresponsive."

"And it took _forever_ to get even close to better and when you came-I knew I had to get the watch and then some Sontaran shot me and now, here I am, a new me!" She smiled. Donna handed them bowls of spaghetti and tomato sauce.

"If you don't mind me asking...what did he do to you all those months?"

"I don't think I should talk about it, it was very twisted," she grinned weakly, "I think your hearts would break."

Donna took a bite. The Doctor pushed his bowl away, thinking, "I'm not that hungry."

"Can I have your bowl then?" she asked. "Regenerating...well, I've been famished all day!"

-/JEL/-

Donna went to sleep early. Josephine and the Doctor were in the library. The Doctor leafed through the pages of one of the books and Jo's fingers dragged across the spines of books in the rows. She turned down another section. "Doctor?"

"Yes?" he looked up.

"Can I stay?"

"Stay?"

"Can I come with you guys? You know, travel-back on Gallifrey, I always dreamed of traveling on my own."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it looked...magnificent. Traveling, seeing the stars, exploring the universe-god, I got so excited just thinking about it." She looked over at him. "So?"

He shrugged, leaning against one of the bookshelves. "Sure." He grinned. Josephine smiled, twirling back around with a silent 'yes'. When she was out of sight, she fist pumped the air, silently doing a happy dance.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks guys for the review and followers! I hope you like this-any questions, feel free to ask. Sorry if this is a lot of repeating...but...yeah...Thanks! ;)**


	19. Family

**Chapter Eighteen: Family**

Josephine galloped down the halls of the TARDIS and into the controls room, pale dress swirling around her knees. She was smiling as she hopped up to the Doctor. "Hello Josephine," he grinned, inspecting one of the screens.

"Hello Doctor, lovely day we're having!" He looked over, brow raising.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes! Perfectly fine," she chirped. He raised a hand to her head, feeling her forehead.

"You seem healthy…" She swatted his hand away with a scowl before she grinned again.

"This regeneration is quite happy! I'm looovvviing it!"

"Yeah?" His eyes inspected her appearance once more. He was still somewhat surprised at the turn of events with one Miss Josephine Erica Lewis. He'd only met one or two Aderlows before, both were lovely people—odd, but lovely. She grinned.

"You're doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"That thinking thing, you're trying to figure me out!" She laughed.

"Well…well, yes, I suppose so, but, I mean—look at you!"

"I know!" she crowed. "Don't I look fabulous?" She twirled around in the spot. "Radiant? Magnificent? Shining? Like a _goddess_?" Her eyebrows wriggled.

"Alien," he told her, "You look alien." She mock-gasped, outraged.

"Doctor! I'm no more alien as you are!"

"Except you are! I mean, we are from the same planet, yes, but I mean…you're an Aderlow!"

"Prejudiced," she sniffed, turning away. "Always knew you Time Lords were prejudiced, my maids warned me but did I listen? Nooo, I guess they were _right_." She looked forlornly away from him. The Doctor panicked.

"No! I meant-" She giggled, turning back to him and hitting his arm.

"I'm just kidding you dolt, you're alright, I've met worse." Her smile was wide, stretched across two pink lips and pale teeth, her cheeks flushed pink.

He hummed, relaxing.

"So…" she drawled, a little unsure. She looked up from beneath her eyelashes, twiddling her fingers. "I know I was just granted permission to come join you guys on adventures…"

"Yes?"

"But," she sighed, "I was wondering if I could go back—I need to talk with Will and Yolanda and Jack and maybe even Martha."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you know, tie up loose ends…"

"Will you ever return?"

"Oh, yeah," Josephine smiled, "Of course! I just…I need that chapter closed. I can't have the same relationship as before but I can make a new one that's stronger and more open and-"

"I get it," the Doctor's own lips were raised, "I'll take you back. Donna and I will just go on a little trip and we'll come back."

"Mkay," she hummed, reaching forward for a hug. They stood silently for a while, just hugging.

-/JEL/-

Josephine Erica Lewis stood in front of the door, hand raised to knock on the door, leg tapping in anticipation. The door opened and Yolanda came out. "Can I help you?"

"I," the woman nodded, "I would like to have a word with you and Will."

"Do we know you?"

"Yes, yes you do. My name is Josephine Erica Lewis." Yolanda stared, face souring. "I am twenty two years old. My parents are Connor and Danielle Lewis." The older scowled.

"Get out!" she slammed the door.

"No! Please, listen to me!" Josephine banged on the door. "Please, I'm not kidding. I can prove it to you! You like to call me Josey, for my fifteenth birthday you got me a pair of yellow rainboots-when I was thirteen you explained how to put in a tampon and then we made cinnabons and watched a bunch of Law &amp; Order!" The door opened, Yolanda's asian face peered out, unsure, untrusting.

"Josephine?" she whispered, her eyes teared up. "If you're Josephine, then, who stole your first kiss?"

Josephine laughed. "Stupid Becky Flannigan and then Cruel Gregory Lindell at the same birthday party for Jamie Cruzzie in eighth grade-they both tasted like salsa and ended up with black eyes by the end of the night."

Yolanda opened the door, crying, and pulled Josephine into her arms. "Oh my god...you got so angry that you broke a spoon!" she laughed and whailed at the same time. Josephine was tearing up as well.

"And then you brought me snickerdoodles."

-/JEL/-

Josephine called Jack Harkness, William Curtis, Yolanda Curtis, and Martha Jones to the Curtis home for tea and stories. When they came in, Josephine led them to their seats and told them a story. She told them about an Aderlow Princess and the Time War and about a little girl who was adopted by the Lewis family. She told the story of an orphan and a victim and the story of a time traveller. She told the story of insanity and sang the song of confusion, twisting her words from the gut in her stomach and rolling the syllables off her tongue. She explained to them the watch that was held in her hands and what the lines across her skin meant. And then they went to get ice cream.

-/JEL/-

Jack held her in his arms and reciprocated with vigor. "I could just _kiss _you!" he exclaimed.

"You could," she decided, "If you wanted to."

"Would we be bonded?"

"Partially, I don't know how strong the connection would be our how much knowledge of the other we would understand-but we'd be connected. Linked."

Jack smiled, cupping her cheeks, thumb tracing her new cheekbones. "You're so much brighter than before."

Her grin was soft as she nodded.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, soft and warm. They traveled from her forehead to her cheeks to her nose, trailing, trailing, all the way down to the corner of her lips. She sighed. Their mouths touched, a soft, chaste kiss for just a moment until he pulled away. Josephine's eyes blinked open and reached up, bringing her lips to his cheek. Her fingers trailed to his wrists and the Bond extended, climbing across their skin.

She pulled away and grinned. "There," she whispered. He looked down at his wrist. Their bond was a light blue twirling underneath his manipulator. She looked up and smiled at him. "There."

He laughed and kissed her cheek once more. "If you ever need me…"

"You'll know."

His eyes stared into hers. "You want another Mint Chocolate Chip don't you?"

"God yes, with extra-"

"Fudge," he finished coyly, excited with the newfound abilities. "I _love_ this!"

"Yes, now, ground rules, Jack. Don't," she made sure he was looking at her when she said this, "have amazing sex and broadcast it to me across the link."

His smiled stretched. Josephine's eyes widened. She knew that look, he was going to do that just to mess with. "Ianto and I will be having so much fun."

She groaned, covering ears. She pouted when her eyes connected with him again. He snickered before pulling her into a hug once more. This was going to be fun.

-/JEL/-

"So what's in that watch," Martha asked, when they got back to the Curtis home.

"Well," Josephine sat forward, "there are about five main issues: my life as Ullani, specifically the Time War, the death of my parents, when I got sick, when I had cancer, and when I went insane because of the Master."

"And...and how are you going to...going to…"

"One memory at a time," Josephine answered. "I've gotten through my time on Gallifrey, there's only the one memory that really damaged me."

"Yeah? Can we," Yolanda paused, "help with any more?"

"No," Josephine shook her head. "I need to do this on my own."

"Jo-"

"Phi," Jack corrected, "she likes to be called Phi in this form." Will smiled.

"Phi, you don't have to do this alone."

"I know," she beamed, "I'll tell you if I need any help."

-/JEL/-

"We met Agatha Christie!" Donna exclaimed when Josephine got back on the TARDIS. Phi whined.

"I'm gone for _one_ day and I miss _Agatha Christie_!" The Doctor patted her back.

"There are other adventures."

"Like Shakespeare?"

"Martha and I did that."

"Dickens?"

"Rose and I." Josephine stomped her foot. She crossed her arms.

"Okay but you have to take me to visit…" Josephine paused, thinking about it. "Hmm...Rowling-no, Hemmingway-no, Woolf-no, Austen-no, Wilde-no, Twaine-no-"

"We'll decide later," the Doctor told her. She nodded.

"Okay, okay, okay, we'll do it though." She pointed a finger at him. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Her head titled, "Okay, I'm off to bed-see ya in the mornin'!"

"Night!"

-/JEL/-

Phi sat on her bed, watch snug in her palms, her palms sweaty. Her fingers rimmed the button before she slowly pressed down on it. It clicked open and soft golden trailed up to her eyes, throwing her into the memory. She blinked, sitting back in one of the backseats. The trophy was held loosely in the little girl's hands, eyes glancing back and forth from the cars that passed by on the highway. Josephine inspected the little girl sitting next to her. Her cheeks were chubby, lips small, and her brown hair was straight. "You did so well Josey!" Phi looked over at her beautiful mother. Her brown hair was down to her shoulders and she wore a blue cardigan. Her father's ginger hair was slicked.

"Thanks Momma! I really, really liked making the little car! It was so much fun and I got to see Joey!"

"Joey Kim?" Phi smiled. She remembered Joey Kim. He was the most handsome and kindest genius she'd ever met at the science fair.

"Yeah!" the little girl grinned. Her mother looked back from the front seat.

Phi looked out the window and saw the vehicle that would hit them approaching fast. "Well, just remember-"

CRASH!

Josephine's head hit the window with the impact and her mother's arms flung at her, body lurching forward as the truck pushed them off the bridge. Phi covered her ears with her hands, watching the glass trickle in the air. The car, fell, collided with the ground, glass shattering everywhere-

CRASH! Red car.

CLUNK! Blue car.

SMACK! Black car.

The cars driving below the bridge slammed into the vehicle, jostling the beat up car, swerving the people inside. Jo's head kept hitting the window, the award smashed against her hand, and the glass impaled the skin. Phi watched her mother and father fall limp, their bodies impaled and broken. She watched her mother's eyes go still and blank, her father cough blood.

Phi's eyes trailed over to Jo. The girl was passed out, curled in on herself. The trophy was broken, bent and cracked. Her shirt was stained with blood and her fingers twitched. The ambulances roared in the distance as people shouted and screamed. Someone came in and tried to pull out the passengers.

Phi took off her seat-belt and turned to the door, opening it-

She fell back into her bed, tears streaming down her face. She pulled the blankets over her face and went to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your reviews! I'm happy you guys are liking the direction I'm going with this. I hope you like Phi and I hope you'll keep reviewing! :)**

**(Oh and just in case you didn't realize, Phi is pronounced like Fee.)**


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